


in a changing world

by evalinh



Series: time travel means you hate your life [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fix-It, Friendship, Hinted Dimension Travel, Hinted Time Travel, Hurt/Comfort, I'll add more characters and relationships as the story goes, Uchiha Sasuke Being an Asshole, all the canon ships are a thing, because i just reset the canon universe, but it's slow progression to that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2020-06-03 15:16:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19466659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evalinh/pseuds/evalinh
Summary: One will keep your memories, one will keep your power, and one will keep your pride.Together, you will keep your fate.orIn which a lot of shit didn't happen, lots of people didn't die, Sakura never went to the Ninja Academy but is hella talented, Naruto gets weird dreams and Sasuke's ego is getting bigger each chapter.Ah, the side effects of resetting timelines.[on temporary hiatus as of may 2020]





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like most fix-it fics take it to a certain point of not destroying the whole timeline, but I'm just going to play with that and see how much I can change.
> 
> I've actually had this idea in mind for years but never got around to putting it all to words, so here we are!

**One will keep your memories, one will keep your power, and one will keep your pride.**

**Together, you will keep your fate.**

* * *

_They fought together, creating almost perfect harmony in their moves. The enemies fell one by one with each hit, but as that was happening their faces began to become less recognizable, it was getting harder and harder to make out what they looked like, blurrier and blurrier. Flashes of yellow, purple and pink flew around, making their faces even harder to make out._

_“How much longer until we arrive at the location? I don’t think the village can hold on any longer.” The female figure said to her companions. She gave off one last massive punch before turning back to the male figures._

_“There are fewer and fewer of them as we keep going forward, the location $h!k@M0%u gave us should be up ahead.” The dark haired male figure remained calm as he took his hand out of the chest of the enemy he was fighting._

_“I think I can see it." The man that glow yellow and orange was ahead of the other two._

_"Slow down Naruto, we have to be cautious. We are trusting a myth after all." The blonde snickered._

_"Since when have myths come to fail us, me and $gsTak£ are literally reincarnations of myths." The woman sighed as she caught up with the other two._

_The forest was thick and dark, the aura around them was strange afternoons it did not feel comfortable nor did it feel unsafe. Ahead was a cave they had never seen before covered top to bottom in shrubs that were all slowly rotting away. A single touch from the dark-haired man was enough to make all the shrubs fall._

_"It seems to have been waiting for our arrival."_

_"Well then, let's hope they give us a warm welcoming." The walked in cautiously, make sure their steps could not be heard. The felt a presence amongst them, a strange type of chakra, it was not human._

_They looked up to see a woman that was-_

**_Beep._ **

_Beep._

BEEP.

BEEP.

Naruto slammed his hand on his alarm clock's annoying beeping. It opened his eyes to be blinded by the bright sun that shone in his face that early morning. His room was still a little dark being the lights had yet to be turned on. The sun moved from his eyes so that he could wake up properly to a photo along with his nightstand. A photo of him and his family on his first day at the Ninja Academy, his father was in his Hokage robes and his mother wearing the usual dress she wore.

"Namikaze Naruto!" He could hear his mother's voice from downstairs. He got up from his comfortable state in his bed and stretched his arms and legs.

"Naruto! You better be ready or I will drag you down here myself!" 

_'Ready? Ready for-'_

Yes, Namikaze Naruto, son of the 5th Hokage, almost forgot that today was the first day of his (hopefully) last year at the Academy. His rushed out of his room to take the quickest shower of his life before throwing his clothes on and going downstairs to eat breakfast. His mother was holding her spatula and her eyes glared down at her son.

"I hope by the sound of that rumbling upstairs that you were not rushing to get ready and you were just trying to find your goggles." He nervously smiled at his mom.

"No way, Kaa-chan! I would never rush to get ready on a day so important." She tilted her head, not believing him but let it roll so she wouldn't be a cause of why he was late to school. 

She placed his plate of eggs and toast on the side of the table where he normally sat, "Eat up, you've got a big day ahead of you. Remember that you and Sasuke are walking to the Academy together." 

Naruto did, in fact, remember that he and his best friend were walking to the Academy that morning. As strange as their friendship was, something always felt like they were meant to be friends. Total opposites, yet it something deep down that felt as if they had known each other for decades.

His father was not at the breakfast table, knowing him Naruto already knew he was already at Hokage Tower getting a head start on the work he had that morning. Naruto finished his own breakfast and left his dishes in the sink.

"Bye, Kaa-chan! I'm heading to the Uchiha Compound!" His mother popped her head out of the kitchen to see her son putting his shoes on.

"Bye Naruto! I better not hear that you made any trouble today!"

Naruto made his hasty way to the Uchiha Compound to not disappoint his Uchiha friend. Sasuke, on the other hand, was bored out of his mind waiting for Naruto.

He sat on the steps on his home’s entrance alone, despite his mother wanting him to stay inside because of the cold that was flying around the village. His mother was in the kitchen, cleaning up before she would make her way around the village with Itachi. Itachi was finishing up his breakfast and helping his mother do the dishes. Sasuke’s father had already left to the police station.

Kicking the dust from the steps, Sasuke heard footsteps from behind.

“Naruto is late this morning, huh, Sasuke?” Sasuke shrugged as Itachi sat next to him. 

“I don’t know what I expected when Kaa-san and Kushina-san agreed we’d walk together on the first day. The dobe is late for everything.” Itachi chuckled to himself. His little brother was complaining about the most minor inconvenience,

“If he doesn’t come here in one minute I’m walking myself.” Just as if the world was against him, a cloud of dust raced by the brothers, as the dust cleared Naruto was shown raving to catch his breath. 

“Let’s just go before we’re late.” Sasuke ran ahead and Naruto finished catch his breath.

“Bye, Itachi. See you later!” He ran off to catch up with Sasuke as Itachi waved the two boys goodbye. His mother opened the door as she adjusted her ponytail.

“Did the boys already leave?” 

“Yes. Are you ready to go, Kaa-san?” She smiled at her eldest son.

“I believe so.” The two walked out of the Compound together, ready for the joys that would come with the village.

Naruto and Sasuke somehow managed to have a decent conversation as they speedily ran towards the Academy.

“Since when did Itachi get back? I thought his mission was another two weeks?” They turned the corner and several adults were shouting at them for running.

“He got back last night, apparently the presence of his chakra scared the guys they were chasing after. How was Suna?” Naruto shrugged.

“It was okay. I really wish Gaara had more time in his schedule last week, I barely got to see him that often.” It was then that they made a mistake in their run. They were too focused on their conversation and completely ignored the girl, around their age, right in front of them.

“Oof!” She fell on her back, books from her arms and the red ribbon upon her head flew off, and the two boys made a sudden stop.

“We are so sorry!” The girl grumbled as she got up and dusted herself off.

“Look where you’re running next time.” The two boys went back to help her with her books.

“We’re sorry, we’re just running a little late.” Sasuke gave her the last of her books and the red ribbon. She took it from him and added the book to the top of her pile and the ribbon in her pocket for safekeeping.

“Well, orientation is already ove-” She stopped herself and took a good look at both of the boys, Each had kunai and shurikens in their belt holders.

“Oh, you both take Ninja Academy classes. Well, Ninja Academy orientation started 5 minutes ago, better hurry.” The two boys had sudden panic flow into their faces and ran towards the Academy.

“Thank you!” The pink haired girl waved her goodbye, but the two boys were already long gone. Something in her felt as if they were familiar in some way, but she didn’t notice it.

She sighed, continuing her walk towards Yamanaka Flower Shop for her shift, “Boys will always be stupid boys.”

When she arrived Inochi was already finishing up his last order before leaving the shop.

“Ah, Sakura! There you are! I was just about to close the shop, I thought you wouldn’t arrive today, it’s a bit later than when you usually come in.” She smiled back at her friend’s father.

“If I would miss a day I would have already told Ino-chan, Inoichi-san. I just ran into a minor inconvenience on my way here.” That was almost the truth, the minor inconvenience had actually in _into her,_ but who has time for all the details? Well, usually Ino but she's not here right now.

“Well, thank you for covering this shift. I believe Hokage-sama called me to maybe assign me on a mission that will take up the whole weekend, I hope you and Ino can run the shop just fine.” She happily nodded as she placed her stack of books on the counter.

“I’m sure we can.” 

Inoichi Yamanaka left the flower shop in Sakura’s hands for the afternoon and she had spent the majority of that free time mindlessly reading books she had recently checked out from the library.

Sakura was the only daughter of two merchants who were constantly out of town, trying to make enough money to support their family. Despite their absence, all their free time was dedicated to spending it with their daughter who also made her best efforts to support the family. Sakura originally worked shifts at the flower shop as a favor for Ino, who was always saving her from the bullies at school, but a favor turned into a way to help make some cash. Since she didn't take Ninja Academy classes, Sakura would work the flower shops while Inoichi was on missions and Ino was at school.

It wasn't like this is what she wanted to do, she wished she could be at the Ninja Academy but, with the decline in the want to become a shinobi the Academy started having a price to pay, a price the Haruno Family couldn't afford. She held her head high, though, and convinced herself that maybe it was for the better as she no longer had to deal with her childhood bullies. All of them went to the Ninja Academy in hopes of seeing their crush, which she didn't quite understand but maybe it was for the best. From what she heard from Ino it was the youngest son of the main Uchiha branch and the son of the Hokage that tween girls often sought after, but Sakura had never met them and didn’t plan on meeting them so she didn’t really understand the commotion.

So she sits in the shop, completing orders, reading in the silence, and enjoying the fun she saw from the window. Couples going out, old friends spending time together, shinobi coming back from missions, it was fun to see the liveliness of the village. It was why she loved the village, it was a safe and peaceful place that always felt like home, even to visitors.

The bell from the door rang and Sakura looked from the banquet she was preparing. A young man with dark hair, a large scar on one side of his face, and Konoha forehead protector came into the shop. He had the Uchiha crest on his sleeve, the white and red as shiny as she had ever seen it. He definitely held himself differently than the other Uchiha’s that were around the village. Sakura recognized this man as he would come in every week for the same order.

"Ah, Obito-san! It's good to see you." He smiled at her.

"Hello, Sakura. Is my order ready? I’m on a bit of a time crunch today." She looked upon the banquets she had upon the table and selected the bouquet that was his regular order.

"Here you go, Inoichi finished it just before he left." She gave him the bouquet and he paid the correct price.

"So, how does your girlfriend like the flowers?" He blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"She loves them but always scolds me for buying new ones every week. Even my best friend is getting annoyed since he's been rooming with us, even though that mask of his he still gets sick of the smell of flowers." She giggled as she waved goodbye to him goodbye as he left the store. 

Obito walked his merry way around the village, flowers in his arms. It was a quiet day as most of the children were in the Academy for orientation, so he decided to head to the Academy to visit Rin. She was volunteering there to help with controlling the children from causing any trouble, it would be a pleasant surprise to see his bright face. She had tried to convince him to possibly write in a slip to be a sensei at the school or for genin, but none of the choices he saw Minato go through really interested him. He didn’t really have a group of kids that would make watching their progress be worthwhile.

He continued walking as he saw a man around his own age walking in the same direction with his nose stuck in the small book in his hand. His silver hair was still as messy as ever and his mask was stiff on his face. The book he was holding 

“Hey! Kakashi!” The silver-haired man turned around and sighed at his best friend. He closed his book and put it back in his pocket, knowing that Obito wouldn’t leave him alone to continue reading.

“Hey, Obito.” The Uchiha smiled as he caught up to Kakashi.

“When did you get back, you said you wouldn’t be back for another week?” Kakashi shrugged.

“Guess missions are getting a little easier now, it’s actually been quite boring.” Kakashi looked down at the bouquet between Obito’s arms and sighed deeply.

“Another one? You buy one of those every week since you and Rin started dating.” Obito hit him in the chest with his free arm.

“Well, not all the flowers are _all_ for Rin. I’m heading to the graveyard later today, it’s coming close to my Grandmother’s anniversary.” Obito looked at the time, “Say, wanna come to the Academy with me.”

“Eh, I've got better things to do.” 

“You’re idea of something better to is reading that pervy book of yours and not interacting with a human woman other than Rin and Kushina.” Kakashi’s expression(okay, the way his eyes looked at Obito) changed to an offended expression.

“Okay, one: the Icha Icha series is a work of art in terms of romantic literature. Two: with the way she acts sometimes, I would hardly call Kushina human.” Obito rolled his eyes.

“Are you coming or not?”

“Fine.”

The two made their way to the Academy, bantering about their days along this road of life. 

Yes, the road of life.

How interesting it is when the cracks get filled in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be honest, I have no direction on how to get Point a to Point B so let's all watch the mess that I put in for myself.

As Sakura turned to the next page of her book, she wondered how different her life would be if she took a different route. When she was younger, after she and Ino became friends, she wanted to join her friend in an adventure to become a shinobi. Her family history, with the lack of shinobis in her heritage, didn’t quite help in hoping to get a scholarship. Despite excelling in academics, her physical shape also was not at best.

It was best she not get involved in the shinobi world. It was a plus that several of her childhood bullies joined Ninja Academy, she didn't have to deal with their taunts when classes were over. She could just leave because when general education ended and Ninja Academy had a break, she could just leave to work.

Her life a calm, collected, and typical civilian life. She couldn't ask for anything more (is what she been convincing herself for years).

She continued reading the book, an adventure story. Written by Jiraiya, it was one of the few books he wrote for all ages. A story that was interesting, without the ‘romantic’ interactions that Sakura noticed was not meant for her age group. It was a book about three shinobi who changed the shinobi world forever, three very different people with three very different lives. Every once in a while, a person would come in and she would assist.

“You don’t look like a Yamanaka.” She arranged the flowers in a way Ino had taught her.

“Inochi is currently on a mission and will be back tomorrow and Ino is at Ninja Academy orientation today. I’m just a helper around here when they aren’t. Enjoy your flowers, mam!” She gave the woman her flowers.

“Thank you, and good luck around here because the flowers next to you seem a little dull.” Sakura looked next to her and the lady was right. She didn’t quite know if it was a helpful tip or an insult though.

“Oh, I thought Ino said you’d be fine.” She whispered to the flowers. She brought them down from visibility and next to her stack of books. She picked up the sad little bud on the flower.

“Come on, you can’t be that bad. I believe in you.” _‘Oh great, now I sound like a crazy person. I’m talking to a flower for goodness sake.’_

**_Concentrate_ **

She heard a voice in her mind and didn’t know if she was delusional-

**_Concentrate. Listen to me and everything will be okay._ **

For some reason, she listened and concentrated on the flower on her fingertips as the voice instructed. Suddenly, her palms began to glow green and the flower began to rise to freshness. As soon as she saw the action and was able to process it for a second, she jumped back from the plant that looked almost brand new. The vibrant colors were more vibrant than when Ino's mother first brought them into the store.

She looked upon her hands and fingers, unsure of what just happened. 

**_If you tell anyone, everything will go wrong. Wait till the time is right._ **

She listened.

She went back to her book, afraid to look at the medical books, and read through it to stay engaged to forget what had just happened. There was no way she can look at anything medical related right now. It had been possibly an hour and a half before she heard the door to see her blond best friend.

“Hey, Sak. You look a little shaken up, are you okay?” Ino asked. She looked happy, this was her last year at the academy after all so a little bit of joy obvious. Her blonde hair was in her typical high ponytail, maybe a little higher due to Ino's excitement getting ready this morning.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just...it’s been a little bit of a slow day. A little boring too.” She explained, not telling her best friend what just happened between her hand and the flower.

“Well, if you want some entertainment, you won’t BELIEVE what just happened with Namikaze Naruto-kun and Uchiha Sasuke-kun.” Sakura smiled, it was nice to hear all these stories from Ino about her classmates, few whom Sakura had actually met. It was always these stories about the top students of Ino's class that really interested Sakura, because what idiots can do that many stupid shenanigans and STILL have almost the entire female population in their class admire them. Maybe it was looks?

It never quite matters how she felt, Ino was so deep into these fanatics that Sakura could only watch to see(well, hear) how this would end.

Even with her gossip obsessed best friend, Sakura had a calm life.

It was nice.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha had a pretty hectic, and annoying, life. All the girls in the class fawned over him, making him question if they chose to enter the academy because they wanted to be a shinobi or if it was just to look at him and the idiot. They were popular guys, they come from names of power in the village, so he was sure this was the group he needed to stay in, he would be seen as a role model.

Today was one of those days on why he called his life annoying and hectic. It had all started with an inquiry from Kiba after classes were finally over, the mistake was that they were still on school grounds. It was after school had finally ended and most students were finishing conversations as they waited for friends to walk home with them, for the boys it was prime time to hang out in the school's yard until a familiar adult would tell them to go home.

“If you two were to fight again after this summer, who would win?” Kiba was softly petting the small Akamaru, his new puppy his family had gotten him to train with. Though the pup was small, he would grow up to be a large and strong ninja dog. Shino was next to him, both associating and dissociating from the group at the same time. Shikamaru and Choji had already left, having to deal with some clan matters. Naruto didn’t give a second thought when responding.

“Kiba, that’s a stupid question. Obviously, I would win. Jiraiya-ojisan has been teaching me a couple of tricks, who can beat someone trained by a SANNIN!” Sasuke scoffed at his best friend’s remark. He didn't make any eye contact with anyone in the group and continued to stare at the ground.

“An Uchiha with years of training history and inherited Sharingan. I’ve beaten you several times in sparring as well, don’t go off think one summer can change that, dobe.” Naruto growled at his friend and Sasuke looked up at him sharply.

“You want to test that, teme!”

“I’m gonna make you wish we hadn’t!”

And they did. Ten minutes later they were pulled into the Hokage’s office for ‘disruption of school grounds’ according to Obito and Kakashi. Both young boys looked rather grumpy coming into Minato's office, each with his own set of scrapes and bruises.

Minato shifted the pile of paperwork from a new mission to look at his son and his best friend. He really believed that they would start _too much_ trouble this year, but these boys had a way of making his life harder. He lightly facepalmed as the two boys stood there, the two looked at him ready to feel his disappointment. 

"Boys, it's the first week of school. Why the hell are you in my office already?" Naruto was the first one to speak in his hyper 'please don't tell mom tonight' voice.

"Look, Dad, it was all Kiba's fault and Sasuke and I just went along with it." Minato snickered.

“Is that it?” The boys looked away from the Fifth Hokage, ignoring the elephant in the room that was the amount of dust all over them and the scabs all over each other’s faces and legs. The Obito held a file of paperwork given by the school and gave it to his former sensei.

“Here you go, Minato-sens-I mean- Hokage-sama. These are all the damages these two created and a couple of witnesses.”

"Thank you, Obito. You shouldn't be slipping up so much, I've been Hokage for over a decade now, would've thought you'd get used to it by now." Obito smiled back at Minato.

"Well, I just slip up sometimes." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"When I become Hokage I'm gonna make sure everyone calls me Hokage-sama." The blonde murmured to himself, quiet enough for no one to hear.

"Hn." Kakashi turned to the next page of his book, bored out of his mind at how slow the punishment for these boys was coming in.

"Minato-sensei, can we hurry up? I've got things to do and places to be." Minato sighed, he had already given up on Kakashi calling him 'Hokage-sama' long ago.

"Kakashi, you are dismissed. I know you'll complain more if I just keep you here." Kakashi shrugged and held a hand up to say goodbye as he left Minato's office.

“I’m going to let you two off this time,” The two boys sighed in instant relief,” but,” Of course, there was always a ‘but’” I will inform both of you families, and yes Naruto that does mean your mother, and if something like this happens again I will keep you two from graduating the Academy this year. Understand?” Both boys nodded their heads viciously. 

This was not going to go so well in terms of how the home is going to react.

* * *

Jiraiya woke up quite late that morning. It wasn't on purpose, he simply just overslept. This wouldn't be a problem if he were in a hotel during his stay in Konoha, the thing was that he wasn't. Tsunade and Dan were going to kill him so quickly if he didn't have his stuff packed and out of the house in time.

The fourth Hokage and his head medic-nin wife had become quite strict in their house guest rules. Even when Nawaki would stay over the rules were the same (although in Jiraiya's opinion Nawaki had it worse as he stayed in the village for longer periods of time and still hadn't found his own permanent home). Jiraiya promised his wonderful host and good friends that he would be leaving at 3 PM.

It was in fact 1 PM.

Thank god Tsunade was at work right now.

But not Dan, let's hope he's had a good day so far.

Jiraiya didn't really have much problem when packing. He was constantly traveling around the nation to find the perfect inspiration for his next book, he didn't keep that much on him with all that walking. One pair of clothing for each day of the week (which comprised of clothes everyone around him says looks the same but he _insists_ it's different), his toiletries(which he does, in fact, change every city he stops at. Who would use the same toothbrush for that long?), his wallet, and his writing supplies.

It wasn't much, but he didn't really need much.

He got out of his bed, the guest bed in Tsunade and Dan’s home, and had two hours to be at the gates. He took a quick shower, letting the hot water from the showerhead remind him of his book Icha Icha Refreshed where the main character was taking a long shower when-

Well, this was not the time to spoil his book, was it?

He dressed in his clothing for the day was all his belonging in the bag he carried on his back. Going downstairs, he saw the sun reflect off a man in a wheelchair’s natural white hair, much more taken care of than his own, who was looking out the window onto the beauty of Konoha.

“Well, about time you got down Jiraiya.” He spoke without looking behind him. Jiraiya jerked from the voice that broke the silence.

“Morning, Dan! How’s the weather today? Any difficulties with my travels?” Jiraiya tried playing off his lateness, but he missed a crucial detail. A miserable mistake any author could make.

“Well, I don’t know if you can count the time almost coming up to 2 PM ‘morning’ but I can assure you the weather is a perfect day to start traveling.” He turned himself around to reveal his smile as he rolled up to where Jiraiya was standing.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Tsunade you stayed in so late. As entertaining as it is to see her wrath, I think you deserve going scotch free this time.” Jiraiya laughed, thank Kami dan was the cool one in this household.

“Thanks, Dan. Well, better get going before both of us are actually late. Need any help?” 

The two made their way from the house to the front gate where a couple of people had already shown up. Orochimaru was having a calm conversation with Nawaki about who knows what, Kushina and Minato were talking as the redhead actively glared at her son, scolding him for an incident he caused at school. Tsunade was running a tad late, giving Jiraiya the perfect opportunity to talk to Nawaki about a...certain subject.

“Jiraiya, your latest book is so well written! The characters are so realistic, how do you do it?” Nawaki, whom everyone was surprised hadn’t found a wife yet, questioned his older sister’s friend about his latest novel. Jiraiya pulled a certain notepad out of his pocket and sneakingly handed it over to Nawaki.

“Well, keep it on the down-low, but these trips aren’t just for exploring the world and making peace with some Lands.” Orochimaru rolled his eyes at their exchange.

“Your unsensible taste in literature is unpleasant to hear about.” Jiraiya shrugged.

“Sensei, must you leave so soon?” He turned to see Minato, behind him was Kushina and Naruto arguing, all in his Hokage robes.

“Well, the difficulties of peace in the Land of Light and the Land of Night aren’t going to solve itself.”

As if just on time everyone could hear the rapid running of an older blonde woman in her doctor's coat. Tsunade's signature pigtails were exceptionally messy from all the work she had up until this moment.

Jiraiya laughed loudly at the vision of Tsunade running late, "I never thought I'd see the day you of all people would come running to me." She rolled her eyes as she slowed down.

"I swear, you never grow up." She punched his shoulder as the rest of the group laughed in agreement with what she had just said. Unfortunately, a punch from Tsunade was nor a soft one.

"Ow!" 

"I already knew you would wake up late, you don't need Dan to be your cover." Dan laughed sheepishly as he rolled his wheelchair away from the two, not wanting to get involved. She sighed as she grabbed something from her pocket.

"Here. I made some vitamins that would accommodate the conditions, have a safe journey. I don't want the next time I see you be you being carried into the village." He took them from her gladly.

"Thanks, Tsunade." Jiraiya turned to his pupil and his family. Naruto looked quite rustled up.

"Naruto, next time I'm coming back is right before the Chunin Exams, I better see that you get in so I can help train you." The grumpy face on the young, whiskered preteen quickly turned into a bright smile.

"Really?" Jiraiya rustled the flock of blond hair on his head and too the hug from Minato.

"Sensei, get back safely. We don't know what's actually going on down there. Send updates as often as possible." Minato whispered. Jiraiya then remembered the undercover-ness about this mission.

"I will. A little light and dark can't kill an old man like me."

After saying his quick goodbyes to everyone else, Jiraiya left Konoha. 

Now he was on his way to figure out this strange chakra profile. 

* * *

Sasuke was really dreading coming home. So much that he decided to take the long way around, then go up and down market streets. Was his stomach growling by the end of this long walk, yearning for his mother's homemade food? Absolutely, but Sasuke's mind refused to let that ruin his pride of not getting shamed by his family for the fiasco he was involved in that day.

Sasuke shook his head. No, he should feel bad that his parents are mad at him for doing something stupid, not like he didn't deserve any of it. What was wrong with his head? He did something stupid and had to face the consequences, he had to put his pride aside this one moment. He turned around to take the closest shortcut from where he was to the Uchiha Compound.

He approached the street that was the way to his home and saw no one but that pink-haired girl he and Naruto bumped into a couple of days prior. She was focused on the book she was reading and looked quite tired. There was something about her though, something similar to his connection with Naruto, just different. She seemed familiar, but Sasuke had never met her up until a few days ago. There was no way he would forget someone with _that_ shade of pink for a hair color.

So, Sasuke did what Uchihas have done well when facing a problem of seeing someone you think you know but don't remember why.

Just walk away.

Like always, it worked. She walked right past him not even noticing his presence, his pride was secured so that he didn't have to embarrass himself in an awkward conversation. Then he made his crucial mistake that was completely unintentional.

"Hey, did you drop this?" He felt a tap on his shoulders and he felt some type of shiver. It wasn't awful but just made him feel... _strange_. He turned around to see her book closed, green eyes looking into his dark, and two shurikens that must've fallen out of his pocket.

"Oh-uh-yeah. I think they must have fallen out of my pocket. Thanks." He the shurikens and put them in a pocket without holes. He prepared to leave then and there, but his thought process was interrupted by her voice.

"Have I seen you before?" The one question he didn't want to be asked. It suddenly made this whole situation so…

Annoying. 

Sasuke didn't know where in his subconscious that word came about, it was fitting.

"Hn." He started speaking the secret Uchiha 'I'm not in the mood to talk' language. She, possibly with a lack of interaction with Uchihas(besides maybe Obito, who was just Naruto with a Sharingan, and just went everywhere in the village that even people who didn’t know shit about shinobi knew his reputation), looked at him strangely.

"What?”

_‘God, this was going to be so annoying.’_

“Oh, now I remember!” She was a girl with a bright personality, _great_.”You and your friend ran into me on the first day of school.” She pouted and Sasuke confirmed his thought in think this was going to be an annoyance.

“Hey, we said we were sorry.” 

“I was kidding, don’t have to act so defensive.” He didn’t really expect her to be so calm around him, not many females did(except Hinata, but that’s because of her massive crush on Naruto that _everyone_ knew about expect the dense blond). She finally noticed the Uchiha crest on his clothing.

“Oh! You’re part of the Uchiha clan?” 

“Aah.” She started to get the hang of his cryptic language, it felt like she had known it for a while. Considering he was around the same age as her, went to the Ninja Academy, and was an Uchiha, Sakura made a sudden connection.

“So _you’re_ Uchiha Sasuke. My friend tells me a lot about you and your friends.” So she didn’t even know who he was until now? That makes this familiarity even stranger. She held out her hand to him with a smile.

“I feel like it’s nice to put a face to a name. I’m Sakura.” He shook her hand as a pleasantry, keeping his ‘uninterested 24/7’ face on.

The handshake was...strange to say the least. When they made contact, Sasuke felt himself get stronger but more down to earth than he was a couple of minutes ago. Sakura felt herself get a little weaker but blamed it on the hard-working day she had, that didn’t explain the boast of self-confidence she got. She assumed it was her getting out of her comfort zone to meet new people, but he didn’t feel that new to her. They let go and didn’t speak of how they felt during the ordeal.

“I should get going, my family is expecting to get home soon.” She nodded in understanding.

“Of course, Sasuke-kun. I’ll see you around the village.” Something about adding the suffix felt so natural to her and Sasuke was so used to being called that by other girls he didn’t really notice it.

“Yeah, see you later.”

They made their separate ways to their own homes, Sakura’s an empty home yearning for parents to be home in a week’s time and Sasuke’s a rich home of being lectured by his mother and his older brother being amused in the background. Both of them let go of the strangeness of their meeting.

Perhaps we can talk about this another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can already feel the hole I'm digging myself into. I'm going to confuse myself on my own story at some point.


	3. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to warn now, I'm not the happiest with how this chapter turned out. I, at some point, am going to revise this whole fic and make something I'm quite proud of but for now, I'm content with how this came out.
> 
> Hope this wasn't too weird.

_“Well, that sounds great!” Naruto frowned as he realized what he said. He knew these situations too well to know that ‘great’ always has a downside. In all his years of making deals, he realized this might be his riskiest._

_“Wait...what’s the downside to this?” The two others behind him shifted uncomfortably, nothing ever sounded as good as them seems in their world. That’s how they got in this situation anyways. The god-like woman in front of them smiled wickedly._

_“A life for a life. A life saved means another life lost.” All three lost their determination. They lived their lives to protect others, even until the end they will do what they were meant to._

_“No deal.” She lost her smile immediately and it turned into an angry frown._

_“What?!” Her voice boomed in the large cave in which they were in. They all got in defensive positions, the tall man behind the shorter woman behind him, protecting her from attacks from behind if it happened._

_“We are not sacrificing any lives to save the lives of our loved ones.”_

_“It will just be the lives of people you will never meet!”_

_“No!” All three of them said firmly._

_“A life is a life either way. It is precious. Even the people we hate have made actions that grow us into the people we are today." She scoffed at the pinkette's remark._

_"You've got some nerve showing up here for such a request without agreeing. I thought you were willing to do anything for this?"_

_There was a strong moment of silence between the four. The team was willing to do anything to save their corrupted reality. Sacrifices had to be made, so a decision had to be made._

_"For the lives of several people we care and know about, what is equal to the cost of lives we have never met to save them?" Naruto and Sa$\/k3 looked back and their companion, curious on what her idea was. The woman's smile returned back to her face._

_"With how many lives you want to be saved, I would have to say that four lives of loved ones would cut the cost enough. But since I'm feeling kind, if you make the deal now I'll make it three." Sa%U!@ huffed as she looked into the eyes of the goddess, ignoring the looks from her male companions._

_"Can we choose who?" The taller woman looked up to think._

_"Usually I'm not feeling that kind, but you are much nicer than your two teammates over there. Plus, I haven't had this good of a deal in forever." The blonde looked angrily at Sa%U!@, Sa$\/k3 was equally as angry but kept calm as he had to trust her._

_"Sa%U!@? What are you thinkin-"_

_"Naruto, just listen to me." He stopped at her calm but scared composure. She looked him in the eyes, those eyes that told her all the pain he had seen and been through._

_"You and Sa$\/k3 have already been through so much in your lives, it is only fair that it is my turn to feel how that is like. I want you two to grow into happier people, even if it means that I will have to go through that same pain." She let out a sad giggle. "I guess then we'll all be pretty equal, huh?"_

* * *

Haruno Mebuki wasn't afraid. 

It was a strange thing to think since she currently had a knife to her throat as well as to her husband's. They had been robbed only a couple times, but reporting them to the Hokage help them retreat what they were robbed of. They had hired young shinobi teams to escort them in times of need, long trips to villages that had rumors floating about but had only been attacked twice. They were safe, though. Never harmed in a way that threatened their lives.

This time they didn't hire anyone to escort them. They didn't know why they would need to.

The trip was supposed to be a short one, short enough that they could get back in time to prepare a special celebration for Sakura's birthday. It was to a close nearby village they had traded with many times and had a very pleasant experience, but it was never a village with shinobi. Under the protection of Konoha, the village was primarily civilian-ran. Mebuki had once thought of moving here before meeting her husband. He had made her see all the wonderful things about Konoha, he made it a reason to call it home for her.

_Sakura._

She felt a sort of guilt in her stomach. If she didn't make it out, Sakura would be all alone. Orphaned children were rare in the village, at the age she was now Sakura wouldn't qualify to be put in an orphanage and would have to learn to live on her own. Mebuki and Kizashi could only pray they would get back to their little girl to see her smile again. To brush through the soft hair that gave her a name. To hug her one more time, telling her that they love her, everything they did was for the life they worked so hard to give her all came down to her happiness.

They were supposed to be coming home to her, to be her parents, and raise her to love and cherish others.

Mebuki could feel more pressure from the blade being added to her neck. Looking at her husband, there were already drips of blood coming down. It was so hard to not cry in front of these men, crying would make the pain even worse.

The leader of the criminal kept angrily looking at their resources before slamming them down to the ground, cursing every object he came upon. He was looking for something, but the food and beautiful kitchenware weren't cutting it for him.

"Damnnit! You're both useless!" He came out of their carriage throwing one last plate on the ground, shattering it into pieces. His good signaled to their leader, asking if killing them now was the best option.

“Now. They don’t have what we want.”

Slice.

Fall.

Before the couple would close their eyes one last time, they looked into the other’s eyes. Mouthing the words ‘I love you’, they felt all the power in them fade away.

As their bodies laid there, dead, one of the goons spoke to his leader.

“Boss, if the girl wasn’t there, why’d you keep looking?” The leader growled at the other.

“I was feeling a little angry, but I do have a clue on where we’re headed next.”

“Oh really! Where?” The other was giddy and happy, so the leader hit him in the back of his head.

“Konohagakure, it’s probably the location of where they are. Considering these two are from the damn village.”

* * *

Minato had gotten news of an attack on two civilians outside of the borders on the village. They were Konoha citizens, Haruno Kizashi and Haruno Mebuki, a couple that worked together as merchants to supply for neighboring villages. It had been the first attack on civilians in several years, this wouldn’t be treated kindly. Measures had to be taken.

From everything he was reading, they didn’t have many enemies. They were very kind people who have made generous deals for villages needing their resources, it was strange to find them murdered on site. All their belongings and items were thrown and smashed to pieces, whoever attacked them was looking for something, but they didn’t have it and had to pay with their lives. An unfortunate story, but the strangest thing was all the clues at the scene. All weapons were left near them, but all the fingerprints were in none of the archives at Konoha or any visitor of the city. 

“Obito, does the couple have any other family members to notify?” Obito scrambled through their files and stopped at one before wincing as he read it through. He knew this kid.

“They have a daughter, her name is Sakura and…” Minato looked at his pupil questioningly.

“And?” Obito gave Minato the file, opened on the page about the couple’s daughter.

“It says here that her birthday is in two days.” Minato exhaled as he imagined how this child would feel. She was his own son’s age, now she has to deal with the news of her parent’s death before her own birthday. That couldn’t be easy, especially when everyone would think they were all in times of peace.

“Well, go find her and bring her to my office. Keeping this any longer is just going to hurt more, we have to tell her.” Obito nodded and left to find the young girl who was quite easily recognizable. Minato was left alone to possibly find some pieces that were missing before he could give this case to be investigated further on.

This case seems awfully familiar to an ANBU mission that ended far too early. Unfortunately, in this case, the victims were killed instead of being tortured for hours. It was a strange case indeed.

* * *

Obito checked the time, it should be around the time Sakura would’ve been at the flower shop. He went the route he always did, see the people he always saw. He tried to imagine how the kid would take it.

She was kind and always helpful, a soft kid who wouldn't hurt a soul. From what he had heard, she was bullied for a while before finally finding someone to defend her. Her shell was easy to break into.

This news wasn't going to hit so nicely.

He finally stopped at the shop and look inside through the window to see if she was in, both her and the Yamanaka heir were moving around flowers onto the displays in the back. Taking all about their school days.

"I can't believe you were so calm around Sasuke-kun! Every girl at the Academy would faint if they were in your position."

"Ino-pig, I didn't even realize it was him until we were about to say goodbye. Even if I did know, there just something about him that makes me feel off about being in his premises."

"Yeah, that he's the guy that all the girl are in love with!"

So, Sakura met Sasuke the other day. The little brat of the main family that hangs around Minato's son, Obito has already gotten far too familiar with his antics. For him to make a kind young lady like Sakura feel off, now that was strange and completely out of character for him, but that wasn't what Obito was here for.

He entered the store and the girls stopped their chattering and smiled.

"Obito-san, we didn't know you were coming in today. Did you have an order?" Sakura asked. He told himself that if he kept this any longer, the loss would hurt more.

"No, not this time. I'll be back later this week, but I'm here on a different reason." The two girls looked at him questioningly. The youngest Yamanaka spoke out first.

"Are you looking for my dad? He's out on a mission right now." He shook his head.

"No, I'm actually here for Sakura." Sakura's eyes opened wide, surprised that he would come in for her.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you are being called up to the Hokage's office." 

This was a first for Sakura. As someone who rarely got into any trouble, she never reached the point that she would be called into Hokage Tower. She could only hope that at the point of life she was at now, it wasn't because of those strange powers she found a month ago.

"Oh-uh-okay." She said nervously. She looked at her best friend who assured her everything would be fine.

"Don't worry, Forehead. His office isn't that scary, whatever he has to say can't be that awful. I'll keep the shop intact until you get back." She patted her back as Sakura left from the counter to follow Obito to Hokage Tower. Obito reflected on the irony of what Ino had said, knowing Sakura would wholeheartedly believe in her best friend. 

This was not going to end well.

* * *

Last night's dream was probably the strangest Naruto had. Usually, his dreams were of saving the day, but last night was all talk about death. It made him a little uncomfortable to be completely honest, which also confused him a bit.

Naruto didn't really deal with much personal death. He had both of his parents, his godfather was in good health, all the people in his life were alive and well. He didn't really understand what the girl in his dream talked about when she said that he and the other man went through enough pain. He was pretty happy right now.

Looking back, he could make some loose connections to the people in his dreams. The man looked like Sasuke if he was older, but there was something about the girl that seemed really familiar for an odd reason. He didn't know their names so he couldn't make any for sure connections, but it would be a hypothesis. Those were always unlike any of his other dreams where the people were easy to identify.

Dreams about a man in a furry jacket with a dog by his side were very obviously Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba always looked a little older while Akamaru look just like how Kiba had said he would grow up to be, big and strong.

It was just that his dreams were getting a little blurry, people that came most frequently had faces that he couldn’t see well enough.

"Naruto, are you going to finish daydreaming and finish your chores or am I going to have to make you stop?" He remembered that he was in fact at home this weekend, doing chores around the house to apologize for the mess he made at the school. 

"Sorry, Kaa-chan.” Kushina sighed as she finished her cooking and started to move everything she cooked onto the dining table. Naruto finished sweeping the living room and heard a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it.” He already knew who it was. He opened the to see his father, tired from a hard day at work but still smiling through it all. He ruffled the top of his son's head,

“Hey, Naruto. How was your punishment day?” Naruto frumped his shoulders.

“Hey, Tou-chan. It’s sooooo boring!” He complained. Minato laughed as he walked into his home and closed the door behind him.

“Minato! Welcome home!” He heard his wife coming out of the kitchen, placing the last of the bowls. She went over to him smiling as he kissed her cheek.

"Hello, Kushina." Kushina frowned at her husband's tired expression.

"Is something wrong?" He shook his head.

"Nothing, it's just been a rough day. Hadn't had one of those in a while." 

"Well, I hope a home-cooked meal can cheer you!"

The family sat at their respective seat and ate their meal. Naruto was munching away at his food, being very close to making a mess as he always did. 

"Naruto, whatever mess you make _you're_ cleaning it up." She looked back at her husband who smiled at them. The innocence of the exchange was refreshing from what he had to do that day. Kushina frowned at Minato.

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong? You’re more tired than usual.” He sighed.

“I really thought we would be in times of peace, but…”

“But?”

“I had to tell a young girl that her parents were murdered outside the village.” The whole family stopped their eating. Naruto gulped down his food and stared at his father.

“What?” Minato held a blank expression.

“The details are messy, but there has been something threatening the village. I thought we had it taken care of with the last ANBU mission, but the attack and all the details have made it apparent that this is a situation far bigger than we anticipated. Unfortunately, the victims were innocent civilians with a daughter.”

“How did she react? I’m sure finding out your parents were killed would be devastating, especially in how the state the village should be in.” Naruto had finished his food, but his appetite was lost a little while ago.

“I should get ready for bed, I gotta help out early in the morning to clean up the school tomorrow.” he laughed as he went to the kitchen to clean his own dishes. His parents continued their conversation about the poor girl, Naruto felt a little uneasy.

His dream predicted the death of three people. When he awoke and went on with his day, he finds out two have died. Leaving a girl his age to go through the loss of her parents, just as the dream had been hinting at. This all has to be a coincidence, there is no way his dreams could predict the future. Could they?

He set his dishes in the drying rack and headed upstairs to his room, he got ready for bed. The entire time thoughts raced through his mind of the complete coincidence this whole thing was. Konoha was supposed to be in times of peace, in and out of the village. People he knew like Itachi and Kakashi always made sure of it, ANBU missions are sent out into places of suspicious activity, terrorist group, individuals with dangerous plans, they dealt with the heavy stuff.

Perhaps he just needed to sleep it off.

Although the soft sound of a scream somewhere in the village didn’t quite help.

* * *

When she heard about her parents her whole life turned upside down. Who would be with her to celebrate her birthday, who will be there for when she needed advice when she got older, who will be there when she was scared of her future? They were gone, the hugs she was given by them would be their last. She could never hear her father’s laugh again or hear stories from her mother.

Two days before her birthday, who knew her present from the universe was the world thing that could've happened. Why?

She felt lost, as if she would never be found.

These questions flooded her mind as she headed her way home from the flower shop. She had to share with Ino, asking to give her a few days off for mourning. Ino completely understood and offered Sakura her unconditional support. She would be dropping by to check on her after classes before work.

Sakura didn’t cry when she was told the news. She saved that for when she got home, breaking down the moment she closed the front door. She fell on the ground with the door behind her, reaching for her breath as she crawled to the family picture on the coffee table just inches away. She held it close to her as tears feel across the face of her beloved parents.

The pain in her heart ached for something bright, both metaphorically and physically.

Wait, physically?

She cried out a scream of agony, not knowing if it was the pain in her insides or the pain from the loss of her parents. It started from the center of her body and spread like fire. She had never felt anything like this before.

There were loud knocks on her door.

“Hello! Sakura, are you okay?” It was her neighbor, from the voice it was probably Rin, Obito’s girlfriend. She was coming home from work, hearing the agonizing voices of Sakura.

“Help!” Sakura tried to get to the door to open it, but couldn't reach. She gave up, but that was when the door got broken. She looked up at Rin who stood there bewildered.

"Sakura, we need to get you to a hospital, NOW!" She lifted the younger girl up and ran out of the house on the path to the hospital. On the way, Rin began asking questions about her condition.

"What happened?" Sakura winced at the pain near her heart.

"I don't know, I was crying then I felt this sharp, burning pain spread."

Rin ran faster. In this time, Sakura came to realize this wasn't just internal pain, she was glowing. Glowing orange, black, blue, and green all over her body.

"Why am I glowing?!" Rin blinked.

"You didn't notice that before?" She shook her head furiously as they entered the Konoha General Hospital.

"Someone, get her to a hospital bed! Something is wrong with the chakra in her body!" Nurses and doctors looked upon her before rushing to get her to a safe empty room.

_'Chakra? What the hell is that? Why is something wrong with me because of that?_

"These levels are off the charts!"

"How can a kid her size have so much chakra in her?!"

"Whatever! We need to stabilize her now before she explodes!" 

_'Explode?'_

Sakura knocked out then and there, unsure of what the doctors would do to handle her situation. 

The doctors, on the other hand, were incredibly confused with her situation. They had never seen anything like this, so they had to call in the experienced doctors to diagnose what was going on. A nurse was already sent to fetch Tsunade from her home. Rin sat through the mess trying to help out the best she could despite the fact her shift was already over. During, she thought of how she would explain this to Obito and Kakashi later that night.

The doctors were able to keep Sakura's body from an explosion, but light glows of colors swirl around her body. Like northern lights.

"With a kid with this much chakra, she is going to be one powerful kunoichi when she grows up." Rin heard one of the nurse comments as she plugged in on Sakura's vitals as the young girl had finally found a calm state. The glow of chakra didn't seem to be harmful, to anyone touching it besides Sakura.

"It's unfortunate that she doesn't go to the Ninja Academy." She nurse looked at her and blinked. She looked Sakura who had finally seemed calm in disbelief before looking back at Rin.

"You're telling me this kid isn't training to be a shinobi?" 

Rin nodded her head, "In all of my years helping out the medical education system there, I have never seen her once after Academy civilian hours."

"Now that is strange. She could be one talented shinobi one day with the control she needs to maintain." Rin looked at the girl sleeping calmly. She had heard from Obito about this kid who gave up on dreaming to be normal. There was something extraordinary about this girl, whether it was a blessing or a curse.

"Doctor Tsunade is here." The two ladies turned towards the door where Tsunade's tired eyes looked at them.

Tsunade entered the room very obviously very tired. She had taken all relaxing day off and was now back to work pretty late at night. Her hair was one hell of a mess, she looked visibly done with the world, seemed about right for a time like this.

"So, what is so urgent that I had to awakes from my first good sleep in months for?"

"Tsunade-sama, Rin here brought in this young girl who seemed to be going through a chakra overload." 

"So what? You spread the chakra evenly through the body and then put her through some physical activity to have her get used to a more powerful system. That's in basic training. What's the major problem?" 

"It's not as simple as that. The chakra in her body overflowed because of how much was in her, not out of chakra instability." Tsunade frowned, walking toward the foot of the bed of this kid with pink hair. She examined the flowy lights of chakra around her, this was nothing like she had seen before. 

"How much chakra is in her?" The nurse looked at her clipboard.

"Enough for three adult top-level jonin." Tsunade blinked in disbelief, this had to be some kind of messed up experiment on a kid. There was no way she would know how to help this girl right away.

She didn't know how complicated this all really was.

This was never as simple as it seemed. Nothing was, nothing ever will.

Today was the day the Haruno clan was supposed to die, but it seems as time pitied this world. It needed strong people, strong minds, and strong hearts. 

Besides, what is the point of carrying data if you can't transfer it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, let's get moving to the part I've been waiting for. (Next Chapter)


	4. chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter is a bit on the shorter end than how I would like it to be, but it includes the majority of the scenes that I need.

**I don't remember my name.**

Sakura opened her eyes to see darkness with a woman that had her same cherry blossom pink hair trapped in a cage. Her voice was a little echo-y as if this infinite world of black had walls. She stepped closer to get a better look at the woman.

**I can't seem to remember my past, at least not all of it.**

The woman is sitting in the center of this cage, surrounded by those lights that Sakura had seen on herself when she was conscious. The woman’s hair was short, tied in a small ponytail, and forehead protector to push back her bangs. She looked like an older version of Sakura.

“Where are you from?” The woman gently turned around to reveal her bright green eyes. Her face was blank and had no real expression. Sakura back up, a little afraid of this woman.

**Don’t be afraid. I cannot harm you, I wouldn’t do it anyways.**

**To answer your question...I don't remember.**

Sakura let out a gentle breath. She sat in front of the woman, the metal from the cage is the only thing that separated them.

**So, who are you?**

“M-my name is Sakura.” The woman smiled gently as she dragged her finger around the rim of the cage.

**Sakura...It’s a very pretty name. It’s so familiar, but I don’t know why.**

Sakura looked closer at the woman's features. She was definitely what Sakura had imagined she looked like when she got older, but there was something more to this woman. She was a kunoichi, she was obviously hard working in some capacity with the deep dark circles around her eyes, and the clan symbol on her back was definitely not the Haruno clan's. If Sakura could take a guess, it was the symbol for the Uchiha.

"So, are you part of the Uchiha clan?" The woman looked up in surprise. 

**What is this Uchiha clan you speak of?**

"Well, I just assumed you were part of it with the clan symbol on the back of your dress."

**Ah, so that is what it meant. Tell me more of this Uchiha clan, it might rejog a part of my memory.**

Sakura tried to round up all she knew on the clan, which in reality wasn't a lot. "Um, well, they're a shinobi clan here in Konohagakure. They are known for their eyes and…” At that point, Sakura ran out of things to say. The woman caught on pretty quickly.

**Can you name some people from this clan?**

Sakura’s face brightened, she had met a couple of Uchihas from their stops at the flower shop. “Well, there's Obito-san, he comes by the flower shop for flowers for his girlfriend. Then there’s Mikoto-san, she and her son Itachi-san come by during their errands to see if there are any new seeds for her flower bed. Then…” Sakura tried to figure out people she met that were definitely Uchiha, then she remembered someone.”Oh, then there’s also Sasuke-kun! I’ve bumped into him a couple of times, don’t really know much about him.” The woman reacted to Sasuke’s name.

**Sasuke…-kun?**

Sakura tilted her head.”Does his name sound familiar to you?” The woman nodded.

**That name sounds like it was part of my past.**

**...Is that all you know?**

Sakura nodded. “Yeah, sorry I can’t tell you more.”

**Don’t feel sorry. I think we’ve lived different lives, so it’s not your fault you don’t know much.**

**Can you tell me more about your village? That you might know more about.**

* * *

The lights of the aura of chakra around Sakura’s body had calmed down but still flowed lightly around her. Doctors and nurses kept her status stable so her body wouldn’t cause her any harm or injury. Tsunade examined her status thoroughly, trying to figure out how so much chakra entered her body and when it did.

It was difficult to figure out since the chakra seemed as if it was always in her body.

They kept her in a comatose state for her own safety since her being awake would cause more health risk, the pain she experienced almost got to her heart. For the first time in years, this was the most mysterious case Konoha General Hospital has ever had.

“Can we scan her one more time?” Shinuze sighed as she snapped her fingers to get Tsunade’s attention. Tsunade’s eyes blinked out of the state of mind she was in.

“Tsunade-same, we’ve done every scan we could several times. Her status is stable, as unusual as it is. What we need to do now is figure out what happens when she’s awake, after this, I don’t believe she can live a civilian life ever again.” Tsunade shook her head.

“No, we can’t force this kid to train so late in her life. She can get hurt much too easily.” Tsunade felt some sort of soft spot for this girl, she didn’t know why. “Do we have any contact with other family members?”

Shinuze flipped through her clipboard, “Her parents were just killed a day or two ago, Hokage-same is putting an investigation mission on it. Other than that, she doesn’t have any other family members to contact.”

Emotional trauma and loss of a loved one.

The perfect combo to let a powerful amount of power release against one’s will. That still didn’t explain how she had so much power, but it did explain how it was released.

"The loss of her parents would have caused her to become emotionally vulnerable, letting room for any chakra to leak through. Without the proper control, it harms the host of said chakra." Shinuze nodded and looked through her clipboard.

"From what we've been detecting, she is emitting three different chakra signatures. Obviously one of them is her own and oddly enough it's causing her body to heal very quickly. The other two contradict that, their energy is naturally harmful unless controlled by a host of a more suitable body." She put down the clipboard looked at the poor girl."In other words, she's a natural water type, but the other two are not. We could do an additional scan or find someone to sense the type of chakra that's harming her, but extracting will be the hard part."

"Thank you, Shinuze." She looked at her former mentor, her face worried.

"Tsunade-sama, are you okay?" 

"I'm fine, it's just a new challenge might be what we needed in the hospital, but it is exhausting." Shinuze giggled.

"Well, I guess you're right." She looked at the clock on the wall."I should get going, I have an appointment in 10 minutes. Have a good day, Tsunade-sama."

"You too, Shinuze." 

Shinuze left to go prepare for her appointment, leaving Tsunade alone in the room with Sakura. This girl was peculiar, excelled in academics, never went to the Ninja Academy, kept down to Earth, lost her parents, then something almost took her life. In one of the strangest cases Tsunade had seen in her years practicing medicine, the person behind it was innocent in every way. From records, she never ran into anyone suspicious, so the idea of her being part of a human experiment was not possible, but her parent's murder was still under investigation. Maybe it had something to do with this.

She heard a knock on the door. She turned around to see a young girl with blonde hair and a bouquet of flowers in her arms. She was scared to come in, or maybe to see the girl in bed.

"Hello?" The girl was startled by Tsunade talking to her.

"Oh, I was just--er. I'm Sakura's friend. I heard she was in the hospital so I wanted to drop by and put in some flowers for her." Tsunade took all her belongings that were on the counter next to the bed.

"You're free to come in, I was just about to leave. Don't stay in for too long." 

Tsunade left the girl who she connected was definitely that Yamanaka girl with Sakura. 

Maybe she should get that chakra signature test.

* * *

He was Uchiha fucking Sasuke. He didn’t need to clean public areas for other people, he was higher up on the social ladder to not care for something like this. Hell, he shouldn’t even be here. He should’ve graduated _years_ ago but that stupid Hokage’s son keeps messing up his chances to impress the rest of his clan and Sasuke wishes he could just Fire Release on Naruto’s annoying fucking face an-

“Oi, Sasuke! Get that stick up your ass out and pass the plaster over here! Iruka-sensei will have our asses if we don’t finish this by the time everyone comes in!” Sasuke snapped out of his phase. He started noticing that he would think he was better than everyone else. It was true in most ways, but he let go to his head that bad, did he?

He passed the bucket of plaster to where Naruto was fixing up. Naruto was almost done with his side of the wall while Sasuke had already finished. All they needed to do was sweep the courtyard of all the rubble on the ground, which they realized was a lot. Maybe they shouldn’t start fights in old school courtyards.

“Shit, if we don’t hurry up, we’ll be dead for sure.” Sasuke scoffed as he leaned a broomstick on the wall.

“Then hurry up and start sweeping once you’re done.” Sasuke speedily swept a pile of dust to the entrance of the courtyard under a couple of shrubs. Naruto did as well until he accidentally swept up someone’s foot.

“Ah!” It was a soft familiar voice, obviously a girl’s. Naruto looked up surprised to see her.

“Oh! Sorry, Hinata-chan! I didn’t see you there.” Hinata looked up at Naruto, not expecting him to be there, he was actually usually late. It surprised her that he was here before everyone else.

“I-it’s okay, Naruto-kun. W-what are you doing here so early?” He made a cheeky smile and scratched the back of his head embarrassingly.

“Well, you heard how Sasuke-teme and I started a fight, right?” Her eyes widen.

“Y-you and Sasuke-kun started a fight?”

“Yeah, now we have to fix the damage before Iruka finishes his morning meeting before we get points taken off our genin test.

“Oi, dobe! Stop talking to girls and finish the mess you started!” Sasuke had already finished his half of the work and was going in the school to put his supplies away.

“Fine! I was just apologizing!” He turned back to Hinata who was making her pale skin apparent with the soft blush on her face. “See you in class, Hinata-chan!” 

Naruto resumed his sweeping while Hinata stood by the tree waiting for student entry to be allowed. The blonde, thankfully, finished his work before Iruka came out to start greeting students in. As Naruto and Sasuke went into the school, Iruka stopped them.

“You two did a pretty good job out here. Keep up the good behavior before I have to contact your families about all the mischief I haven’t told them about.” He squinted closely at Naruto. “Naruto, I know it was you inserted three tacts into my chair this morning.”

Naruto attempted laughing it off. “What are you talking about, Iruka-sensei? I was here cleaning up the whole time! Right, Sasuke?” 

Sasuke shrugged, “I mean, it did take you unusually long to go in and get a broom.” Iruka sighed and let it slide this time(just like the last 10 pranks Naruto had done on a teacher).

When they went in, something in Sasuke made his shove Naruto.

“Hey! What was that for?!”

“You keep getting _me_ involved in your stupid ass shenanigans.”

“It’s not my fault that you are always arguing about my idea. Kiba initiates but never goes along with them, Shikamaru and Choji never pay much attention to them-”

“Can I please not be involved in this argument? The messes you guys create are such a drag.”

“Yeah, I would rather not be involved in this. My parents would ground me forever.”

“-but _you_ always reject them. So if you don’t want to get involved, don’t interfere.”

“Can you two just shut up? I’m having a headache.” A female voice that had just entered the room and essentially stopped the argument, it was not who the boys were expecting it to be. Yamanaka Ino _never_ stops and argument between these two because of the gossip material, hell, she would side with Sasuke most of the time. It was a surprise to almost everyone in the classroom that she would tell them to shut up.

“Uh, sure. Sorry, Ino.” She made her way to her seat, quietly. Naruto leaned over to Shikamaru.

“Uh, what’s up with Ino? I’ve never seen her be this quiet for more than 5 seconds except for that time we tried finding out if Iruka-sensei was dating or not.” Shikamaru sighed.

“She went to visit a friend of hers from GenEd in the hospital. Apparently, she’s in a coma and the doctors don’t really know what’s up. Ino’s been a little out of it since her friend has been going through some rough stuff in recent weeks.” Shikamaru yawned as he laid his head down on the desk. “It was a drag for her to cancel morning practice last minute just to visit her when she could’ve gone after school.”

Naruto frowned as he sat back into his seat. Hospital? Coma? Was that part of the screaming he had heard the other night? Was this all his dreams were predicting to be leading up to?

"Okay, class. Today we'll be having a pop quiz." Naruto shook his head, ready to protest the atrocious words Iruka-sensei had just spoken.

* * *

"Hokage-sama. You have summoned us."

Minato moved the papers about a C-Rank mission he just got the report of to see three ANBU members standing in front of him. They were already in gear, prepared to go on a mission he would send them at any moment.

"Ye, I have. I want you to investigate a murder from outside the village. The file will have more information about it, but a quick rundown is that two civilians, Haruno Mebuki and Kizashi were found murdered on their way back to the village after a merchant's trip. From what we know, they didn't have many, maybe no, enemies or people with grudges against them. We still have to question their daughter, although shortly after she found out the news she was sent to the hospital and is currently in a coma. She herself has no enemies and it doesn't seem as if anyone would be after her either." The youngest of the bunch steps forward to accept the file.

"There is one thing I should note." They all paused.

"We have been suspecting that the murders may be connected to the threats around the country. You all have been on those missions, so I hope that you become familiar with the chakra signatures to recognize if there was a connection." 

"Of course." They all nodded and Minato looked at the one on the left.

"All of you will leave for the mission early tomorrow morning, we need feedback as soon as possible before the daughter awakes." He pointed to the man he was looking at. "Except you." 

The man hesitantly nodded his head.

"All but you are dismissed. I will send someone to assist you way out the village in the morning." 

"Yes, sir!" In lightning speed, they all left to go prepare for this mission. Except one.

"Kakashi, please remove your mask." Kakashi did so and put it to his side.

“Minato-sensei, is there a problem?” Minato shook his got out of his seat to look out the window.

“No, I...actually have a different mission for you.” Kakashi walked to stand beside his former sensei. “You know, the time is coming for me to organize the genin teams for the next graduating class. This year will be different since both Naruto and Sasuke will be put into teams, it makes my job on finding them a third teammate a bit difficult.”

“Ah, yes. They are both very talented for their age, it can be difficult to find a person with some medical training to balance them. I’m surprised you’re putting them on the same team.” Minato sighed.

“I need to keep an eye on Naruto and the head of the Uchiha have been requesting Sasuke be put on a team with similar talent, it might be seen as favoritism but I have to keep the village happy. But the hardest part of making the teams is-” He looked directly at Kakashi.”-is choosing their jonin senseis.”

Kakashi frowned. “No.”

“Kakashi-”

“Why me? Why not Obito, or even Rin?”

“Obito is still in training for the spot of Hokage for when I retire and Rin has recently been assigned to a special case at the hospital. Those will take up all their time and they won’t be able to watch over them. You, on the other hand, is a person I can trust with looking after and training these boys.” 

Kakashi looked away from him. “Sensei, you know how high my standards are for the last couple of times I was a sensei. Even with how talented they are, I don’t think I can do what you are expecting of me.”

“Kakashi, you can do it. I trust in you that you can do it, I am certain that you can look after them and keep an eye on them. When I do pick who will be their team medic, I am sure that your standards will be met.” Kakashi faced his head down as Minato put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hatake Kakashi, do you accept this mission? You will have to retire from being a part of the ANBU for a long while.” Kakashi looked eye to eye with Minato.

“Yes, Hokage-sama.”

* * *

**Your village sounds...interesting to say the least.**

Sakura giggled as she finished explaining the strange antics of Konoha. From village gossip to the traditions around the village.

“It’s a weird place sometimes, but it’s the place that I call my home." Sakura sighed as she looked around at the blackness around her. No sign of a real place.

"So, where are we?" The woman looked around well.

**Well, since I'm in the cage and you're outside of it, this is your inner conscience.**

Sakura blinked. 

"Wait, _my_ inner conscience?" The older woman nodded.

**Yes, I believe so.**

"Then, if we're in my mind, then how can I get out." 

**That is a good question. Maybe the fact that I'm stuck in this cage might be part of our answer.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure it's obvious by now on who got what, but I'll just explain some stuff now.
> 
> Sakura got power. It created a sort of irony since she was usually the weaker one in the team. This power comes in the form of the one and only Inner Sakura. Because in this version of the world she lacks training, it makes sense that her body can't hold the powers of the older versions of her, Naruto, and Sasuke. Her accident was caused when she let out a little power to use medical ninjutsu on a plant, letting a gate(helped by emotional vulnerability) of harmful chakra attack her.
> 
> Sasuke got pride. It shows in the form of his ever-growing ego. I chose him to show pride as it would make the most sense seeing how he is in the main branch of the Uchiha clan, but ego becomes a dangerous thing. This will be a reason he grows angry, he holds the pride of strong people hence making him think he's better than others. I found it quite fun to play with the large ego he's getting with the version of himself he is in the story, a polite kid who's just a little spoiled.
> 
> Naruto got memories that come in the form of his dreams. In the original younger days, he always felt as if he never knew what was really going on, memories from the past gives him a look into the future. I wanted him to be able to put the pieces together on his own, figure out what was going on before anyone else. This version of Naruto obviously grows up in a safe household in a safe village, but the idea of him sensing danger helps give more depth to our situation.
> 
> I will dive deeper into other mechanics of the story as they become more apparent(Sasuke and Sakura's handshake two chapters ago, the threat everyone is so worried about, etc)


	5. chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some details that I realized won't be explained throughout the fic, for various reasons whether or not they are actually important or just some general things about that dynamic of the village that has had change.
> 
> Today is the changes in the education system.
> 
> The education system in Konoha became more elaborate during the end of the 3rd Hokage's time. Several civilians demanded that there be a system for their own children, who had no real interest in becoming a ninja, to get a base level education. To stop the constant demands, the General Education department was established at the Academy and is run by civilian teachers and shinobi who were willing to give up mission time(Minato calls on Iruka to refine the system some years later it since it's done very lazily). GenEd ends about 3 hours before the Ninja Academy does. 
> 
> Along with the Gen Ed system, the medic-nin branch opened during Dan's time as Hokage(he was the 4th, Minato is the 5th, Dan retired because of a serious health issue). Because he wanted a medic-nin on every team, the branch at the Academy was opened to teach certain skills to keep the upcoming genin teams safe. On each genin team, one individual(usually the female of the team but not always) is the team's primary medic. Rin was the head of this department when it began until the teachers were able to understand the curriculum and take over.
> 
> There is a special branch in the education system for those who excel in the art of being a shinobi, which is how people like Itachi graduate early. Kakashi could've been in this program but wasn't because of canon plot holes.(Kakashi had some behavior issues is how I'm going to excuse him not becoming a genin at such a young age. He becomes a genin at 11, a chunin the same year, a jonin at 12, and is an ANBU captain at 13)

The trees surround the group. They had just finished visiting a lake to clean the blood off their weapons and making their way to kill a couple of kids who messed with time. Granted, they were only told the names of these kids, so cut them some slack.

Said no one ever.

They didn't realize it at the moment, but they were probably the worst people the time council could hire for the job. As high and mighty as they had acted, they got the job done relatively longer than it should be. They _thought_ they had the advantage since the point of resurgence was when they, the targets, were kids. Weak and vulnerable, generally.

The problem was that they didn't have a single clue where anything was.

"We're time assassins, not navigators!" Cho, the leader, kicked a rock. A bad move as it was a rock, _he kicked a rock_. 

"Ow!" 

"Boss, are you okay?" His two subordinates were not helpful either. Noru was a great assassin but had awful common sense. Ru needed some time before killing a person (which would give the time where he might consider _not_ killing the target (his main weakness is meaningful conversations)) and was just the most surprising person to still make the role of time assassin.

“I’m fine! Now let’s just find a way to get to Konohagakure!” They had been walking around for weeks trying to figure out where the village was.

"Eh, boss. You think we're going the right way?"

"If time is on our side, we'll make it before the chunin exams."

They just didn’t know that the location they were at just a couple of weeks ago(and counting) was a two day walk to the village. 

This gives a bit of time for something to emerge.

* * *

_"Papa, Mama, Tou-san." The 9th Hokage acknowledged the presence of her family as she rolled back up a map full of red and green dots. The three of them entered the Hokage's office. Sakura held a baby boy in her arms, her precious grandson, and handed him over to Sarada, she cooed at her newborn son, brushing his dark hair, and looked back at her parents. “Is there any trouble with Ita-chan?”_

_Naruto shook his head, “Actually, Sarada, we’re here for a different matter.”_

_She frowned, “You’re here because of our latest threat, aren’t you?” All three of them nodded, She sighed as she rocked her baby in her arms. “Boruto must’ve told you, didn’t he?”_

_“No, we heard it from Shikamaru who heard it from Shikadai.”_

_“I told him to keep it on the down-low.” She whispered to herself, not quite low enough for everyone to not hear her._

_“Well, it’s not very silent with Mitsuki being in an out the village as often as he is. Sarada, we just want to help and you need to spend more time at home. You just had Ita-kun a week ago and you’re already back in the office. Even your father and Naruto spent several weeks at home when a child was born before returning to work.”_

_“Mama, I can’t just let a threat progress when I feel as if my own child’s life can change because of it.”_

_“That’s why you have to let us help.” Sarada frowned and shook her head._

_“No, this is a situation I have to take into my own hands. It’s my responsibility as Hokage to figure this all out.”_

_“Sarada.” Sakura stepped up. “As your family, we want to help. You cannot do this on your own, that’s how you’re going to get yourself killed. Please, we know a way.”_

_“How?” This time it was Naruto’s turn to answer._

_“While you have been as busy as you are, we have been researching our butts off to find the source. The only answer we have is S-Class information.”_

_“How do you all know this?” Sasuke cleared his throat._

_“In my time before I became a reformed S-Class criminal, I found this...place on accident. All we needed was Shikamaru’s help to find the location again, luckily our maps are much better than they were in the past.”_

_“Well, then. What’s the plan? Where are you going?”_

_“We’re going to time travel.”_

* * *

“Naruto! Wake up! We’re going to the hospital in 30 minutes!” Naruto groaned as he rolled out of his bed. It was a weekend and his mother was making him do community work at the hospital.

Naruto wasn't the most _community_ type of guy. He liked mischief, he liked the attention, he didn’t care to help out if there were already people willing to do so. His parents always scolded him for this, saying that it was what a shinobi did. Kushina, on the other hand, loved helping young orphans, she never wanted children to feel the way she did growing up, like an outsider.

At first, she had considered helping out the young girl Minato had talked about a week ago, with housework and coping with such a tragic death. Upon finding out through Rin that the girl was in the hospital, Kushina still wanted to help out.

Dragging Naruto along with her because he was still very much grounded. 

“But Kaa-chan! I already told Shikamaru and Choji I'd hang out today!" He whined. He didn't actually have proper plans with them, but knowing them they had quite a flexible schedule.

But Kushina was not having it today.

"Naruto, it is just one visit-" She turned her hand into a fist"-to help out kids who need help. 

"Naruto, I'm sure Shikamaru and Choji will understand if you reschedule. This is a time for you to help the community, it's what keeps the goodness in our village." She dragged his arm out the door where they began walking to the hospital.

On their way there, Naruto began to think through his most recent dream. He finally found out the name of the woman within his dreams, Sakura. It was fitting. Although, he was introduced to another person, Sarada. She was Hokage as well as an Uchiha. In the dream, he was an adult, which meant he wasn’t going to meet her for a while. He didn’t recognize her.

There were so many names he didn’t recognize.

_Boruto._

_Shikadai._

_Mitsuki._

He didn’t know a single person with those names.

But he could already imagine what they all looked like.

In his mind, it was obvious that this Shikadai person was a part of the Nara clan so he looked a lot like Shikamaru with some slight differences in his appearance(Naruto was actually surprised that Shikamaru was mentioned in his dream as well). This Mitsuki person looked quite a bit like Orochimaru, which was strange as Naruto never really saw the sannin to have any children. That Boruto guy...looked a lot like Naruto himself. Maybe a slight babyface, but there was no doubt that Naruto's head imagined him as if Naruto had a son.

It was strange, to say the least, the more and more of these dreams here had, the more real they began to feel. They felt like they were _his_ memories, it was _his_ life. But Naruto was not an adult that looked so strong and cool, he was just an Academy student trying to prove himself in the shadow of his father. He had a family, he had friends, he was adored and talented, but these dreams always made it feel like he was alone for years. Like there was barely anyone that believed in him.

"Earth to Naruto!" He blinked his eyes rapidly to see Rin's cheerful smile. 

"Hey, Rin." He looked around, unaware that he had already made it to the hospital. Rin noticed quickly.

"Your mother is already in the room getting new water for the flowers. You dazed out a little so I have you right here until you feel alright. Are you okay? You seem a little tired. Are your energy levels finally catching up to you?" They giggle together.

"I guess so. But I think I'll be alright." 

"Well then, let's go in." Rin opened the doors to the room and in the bed, unconscious, was a girl. Naruto's eyes widened.

He remembered her. He and Sasuke ran into her while they were late for the first day. It was much more than that, though.

She looked like the pink-haired woman in his dreams, just younger. Around her was flowing chakra auras, all the same colors as the ones he saw in his dreams. The only way that this could be that woman is that-

"This is Haruno Sakura." 

Well, that answered his question.

Run began talking about her condition, the events that led up to it, and other details that Naruto didn't care to remember. What he did remember was that this girl made him realize something more important. It might sound crazy but :

Maybe his dreams weren't just dreams.

* * *

**I feel the presence of someone strange.**

Sakura popped her head up at the voice of the woman. She was looking around the cage trying to see if there were any ways out of it for the woman. Although there was a door that was slightly opened with some “chakra”, as she now knew what it was leaking through, the door was almost impossible to move.

“Huh? Who is it?”

The woman tried closing her eyes, focusing quite a bit.

**He’s…**

It was a male, so Sakura couldn’t really guess who it was.

**His signature seems familiar.**

"You've said that many times before, miss. What could be different this time?"

**Because there is something drawing him in.**

Sakura widened her eyes. If something were drawing someone towards them, the only answer would be-

"Is it the chakra?" The woman focused on his presence once again and nodded her head.

**Yes. He seems like someone from my past.**

Suddenly the yellow and some of the blue chakra aura began to condense together next to the woman. She quickly stood up and leaned against the other side of the cage where Sakura was. The chakra began to form a man slightly taller than the woman. Parts of his physical appearance began to become more visible, some yellow settle on the top of and bright blue eyes began to peak out.

"What's happening?!"

**I don't know.**

**But I think we’re about to.**

Finally, it began to calm down and a man stood there. He fully opened his eyes, letting the blue shine. He looked upon himself starting with his arms and down to his legs before putting on a large smile. He looked up at the two confused girls.

**Who are you-**

He ran to hug her, confusing her even more.

_Sakura-chan!_

Her eyes widened as the younger Sakura looked upon the scene unfolding. The older Sakura began to remember something from her past.

**N-Naruto?**

Older Naruto let go of his embrace her and smiled once again.

_Finally! I've been trying to find you for forever! Man, Sasuke was easy to find but it is a pain in the ass since he’s got pride._

The older Sakura began to collect her thoughts and memories, remembering bits and pieces of the life she once lived. 

**Sasuke! I can remember now! So that means that I got power and you got-**

_Memories! I learned very quickly that I had to release my own to my younger form without giving him a giant migraine, so sorry that recognization has been a little slow. It has even been slow to transfer to teme since we never touch hand to hand, it's all just fighting._

He laughed a little before all three of them noticed that he began to fade away. 

**Shit, our connection didn't last that long.**

Naruto shrugged.

_At least you got a good enough amount of memories, I'll see you later!_

She smiled as she waved at him.

**Bye, Naruto.**

_Bye Sakura and current Sakura._

He faded into nothingness leaving fewer particles of yellow behind. He didn't get everything, but he got enough for now. 

Younger Sakura stood there bewildered by everything that was happening. If this woman was her, then why was she so different? If that man's name was Naruto, then was he the Namikaze Naruto her friend had talked about? Questions of everything built up until the older Sakura snapped her fingers to get her attention, the sound echoed in the void.

**Hey, kid, I know everything is a little overwhelming right now. I'm sure I can explain everything while we have the time, but first, let me reintroduced myself.**

**My name is Haruno Sakura. I am you from a different future. I time-traveled with my two friends to change the world for the better.**

* * *

It had all started with Rin wanting him to raise this girl’s arm up.

She needed to take a blood sample from the one place there wasn’t chakra targeting her for safety reasons. Kushina went to go pick something up for Rin so it was Naruto’s job to hold up her arm. He really didn’t care and was waiting for hours to pass to round up his friends afterward.

She was cleaning the area and preparing for the extraction. Naruto decided it didn’t hurt to just poke around being the curious child he was. He started poking her hand when it happened. Rin didn’t notice, but he surely did. The yellow chakra slowly moved up her arm and onto his finger.

When it reached his poking finger, he absorbed it.

He had at first stopped poking, thinking that if he continued her condition would get more confusing to the doctors. There was something inside him that told him to keep going but just keeping a couple of fingers in the palm of her hand.

_It’ll be worth it in the end._

He did, he listened. The yellow chakra was absorbed into his skin through the fingertips and the heaviness in his head that he didn’t even realize was there relaxed. 

No one noticed.

"Naruto, you can let go of her hand. I'm done taking the sample." His thoughts were broken off by Rin's voice. He let go and any remaining yellow chakra went back to focusing on the rest of the girl's body.

He felt, powerful. He felt like he had an extra boost of strength he didn't have before.

This was..strange to say the least.

* * *

She had to be a little sneaky. It wasn't as sneaky as she would be on a day her cousin wasn't out training with his team, but sneaky enough to avoid her family members' various questions about her whereabouts. Hanabi was doing her daily training with their father, which Hinata already did early that day, and Hizashi was out on a mission that weekend. It was the perfect timing for her to just-

"Hinata-sama. What are you doing? Where are you going?"

And by the power of the ninja gods, Neji was home early.

"Ah! Neji-niisan, I w-was just-"

"You were not sneaking out of the compound, were you? Your father would not be very happy to find out you were walking around the village without a guard." She sighed toward her older cousin's remarks.

"I-I know that, but I just want Tou-san to stop treating me like I need to be protected all the time. I just want to go out on my own. Why are you back so early? Wasn't Gai-sensei going to train you guys the rest of the day?" This time, it was Neji who sighed at the mention of his, frankly, absurd sensei.

"He has given us an hour lunch break. Tenten and I have decided to meet up at Ichiraku while Lee tags along after an extra 30 minutes of training. Would you like to join us?"

Hinata shook her head, "No thank you. I wouldn't want to interrupt your team time."

"Nonsense, Hinata-sama-"

"I told you to stop that. It has been too long since all the talk about branches."

"I apologize, although Oji-sama would beg to differ on a bad day." He changed the topic that was grim for them both. "Your father would also be angry at me for letting you out and about around the village on your own. So my offer stands, you can either go around with me and my team around on our lunch break or stay at home and I will tell Oji-sama." 

Hinata was still hesitant to answer back to her older cousin, Neji sighed, "If you want to come with me, I'll _let you out of my sight_ for a little while." Hinata's face burst a soft smile.

"Can we go now?"

"I'll get something from my room and we'll get going once I come back."

Neji was going to be in so much trouble later.

* * *

**ANBU REPORT DAY 1**

**#0021193**

_Since our arrival to the area, we have immediately identified that the signatures at the scene of the crime are the same as those from mission #0021191. Upon attempting to follow, we have found evidence that the group, identified as three adults, was planning on going to Konohagakure. It has become obvious to us that they have headed in the wrong direction. The direction we were able to follow until their chakra flared up before completely disappearing is in the direction of 5 local villages(all starred on the map attached to the report). We will wait for our next steps._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All that stuff in the beginning note is just some context to the story because that is all information I will not be touching on very much.


	6. chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took soooo long. School is obviously a far more important priority of mine and I've been writing bits and pieces together as my relaxation time. I finally had a free space to just finish it and get it published. I really hope it doesn't take this long next time.

She had finally returned home after a long day of training on her own. She really needed a day like that to just focus on herself for a moment, not worrying about whatever anyone else thought. She was Uchiha Izumi after all, she wouldn't let anyone else's thoughts hinder her dreams and aspirations. 

Well, except maybe one person.

She had arrived at her house and immediately headed to the bathroom to take a long, relaxing bath. She really needed that after the day she went through, even putting in some bubbles to brighten her mood. The swishing of the water flowing around her body calmed her muscles. After getting out of the bath she collapsed upon her bed in her towel, it was so much more comfortable than she thought it would be. She didn't even want to get off, until realizing she would probably want to put on some clothes tonight, it was a bit chilly this evening and a blanket would not do well in keeping her warm all night.

Getting up, she saw a slip of paper folded on her nightstand. It was small and was taped by a familiar pattern, a red crest with a white fan under it. A sticker she knew the person took quite a while figuring out how to make it look like the Uchiha symbol. Izumi took the paper and carefully opened it, making sure not to rip the tape she knew this person took bought for a pretty penny. She opened and smiled at the familiar writing. It was shorter than many of his other letters he would slip into her room, but it was still done with the same effort.

_Izumi,_

_I apologize for not being able to spend any alone time with you while I was home. When I came back I was unaware you were already on your own mission and when you came back I was getting ready for my new assignment. (Kaa-san misses seeing you around by the way so drop by whenever you would like. I think she has something for you.)_

_I will be returning in two weeks and will be staying for a little longer than usual. I will be taking a week of vacation so I hope that we can have that time to spend alone together(and please don't be nice and have Shisui come along when he asks)_

_In your next letter, I hope you will list out anything you would like to do. You know where to drop it off._

_Itachi_

She smiled as she traced her finger around his signature. The ink was completely dried, it looked beautiful on the paper. It was incredibly sweet of him to send this into her room on such short notice, his style of writing always made her giggle. It was refreshing to read after not spending much time with him because of their busy schedules and Shisui always interrupting their little dates around the village, they hadn't gotten much one on one time.

She put on some comfortable clothing before sitting in front of her desk, a pen on her right and a paper on her left. The inkpot was in front of the paper, black as she didn't want to spend so much money on colorful ink. Izumi took the pen and wrote out his name.

_Itachi_

She thought of what she would write out next. Itachi was always the one who was better at making things up on the fly and having it still sound natural, Izumi didn't quite have that gift and noticed it took her forever to think of answers she was happy with. She slumped down into her seat and placed the pen back down on the table.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes to see darkness. Usually, this was a sign a strange dream would occur and he would wake up with a massive headache, but something was different. The darkness didn't fade into the light of what seemed like a memory. Instead, a man with similar features was several feet in front of him, sitting on a chair that looks very similar to his father's office chair.

_"Are you going to stand there or what?"_

The man spoke and the darkness echoed his words. Naruto backed up a little, afraid of the man in front of him.

_"Hey! Don't leave already! It took me years to set this up so I don't look like Sakura-chan in her cage or Sasuke in a fucking boat. There is already a cage here reserved for a special someone, so I had to find somewhere else to rent for the night."_

Naruto stopped as he looked at the man in the eyes. He had his eyes, his hair, and mentioned people he knew. This man was the man in his dreams. This man was the older him.

_"So you figured it out already, huh? Man, you're already way smarter than I was when I was your age."_

Naruto sputtered, "Wait, you know my thoughts?"

The older Naruto leaned into his chair and relaxed a bit, _"Kid, we're in your mind. Your thoughts are literally bouncing off the walls."_

Naruto decided to change the topic, "Wait, what's going on?"

 _"Long story short, I'm running out of memories to give you and now I can finally tell you about the fun stuff."_ Younger Naruto shook his head, not quite understanding what his older self was saying.

"Wait-What? You're giving me memories?" Older Naruto rolled his eyes as he slumped back down into his seat.

" _Well, duh! Those 'dreams' you've been having for the past-what-three years now, those are memories from our past life. The life I lived_." The room flashed from the darkness to one filled with every single moment he had seen in a dream. Moments with him and Sasuke, fighting as older versions of themselves, though not older than the man in front of him. Moments of him and Sakura, all the time she had to heal him and follow him in their journey as teenagers. Then there was…

“Is that Hinata-chan?” He looked closer at the woman he believed to be the shy girl in his class, she had obviously grown out of that stage in these memories. The older Naruto smiled as he looked upon the memories as well.

“ _Yep, I would tell you everything, but you’re smart enough to fit together the pieces_.” Young Naruto turned to his older self.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you here?” The older Naruto continued to look upon the memories that happened so long ago.

“ _The village was in great threat in my time. I’m guessing you haven’t seen the ugliness outside the village, you aren’t even a genin yet._ ”

“Hey! I may not be a genin, but I’ve seen some shit in these dreams you’ve been giving me!” The older Naruto laughed as he turned around to look upon the other side, memories from when he was a child.

“ _I understand that you see them, but you never_ feel _how it is to live that life. Just because of how different our lives are._ ” The younger Naruto frowned.

“What do you mean?" The older Naruto returned to his desk chair and slumped down.

" _Kid, this explanation is going to take all night. Sit back, relax, and let me tell, like, 700 plus chapters of my life._ "

Younger Naruto whined, "I don't wanna learn history! This is supposed to be a dream, I should be floating on clouds and being Hokage!"

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

**So, yeah. That's pretty much all I remember about my life at this moment. There are some missing pieces but I'm sure they will get filled up the next time we meet with Naruto.**

The young Sakura sat in shock at the information. That Uchiha kid who she didn't like tried to kill her and she once tried to kill him, this Naruto guy was one of her best friends, AND she went to the Ninja Academy?

Luckily, Ino was still her friend.

"Wait, what started that fight with Ino? She's, like, my best friend. I can't imagine anything breaking us apart!" 

The older Sakura tried to think for a second, thinking harder for a little bit as well.

**I can't remember why. I guess we'll find out later.**

They both shrugged and giggled at the processing of the memories.

"The Ninja Academy, what is it like? I've always wanted to go there, but the cost was just too high."

 **Our worlds are very different, you see. In my time the system wasn't nearly as organized and expanded as it is in your time. To get an education, I** **_had_** **to go to the Academy and it was free. The teachings to be a shinobi were far more public back then.**

Younger Sakura looked a little sad, both of the destiny she could've had and the one she had right now. The one she could've had would have been part of her dreams, but it reminded her that her older counterpart's fate had fallen into the hands of people training child soldiers. Her reality was that her dreams didn't come true, but she was still happy? She didn't even know if she was truly happy, but life continues. It’s peaceful.

“So, do you know when we’ll wake up?” 

**Why do you ask that?**

Sakura shrugged. “I mean, as nice as it was to get to know you and all of this, my life still needs to go on. After this I have to grieve a little more about my parents because I don’t know if you noticed but tHEY’RE DEAD.” Younger Sakura frowned at her older self as she made that realization.

**Damn, I forgot about that. Man, I’m going to miss Kaa-san and Oto-san-**

“Well, you don’t have to be there for their funeral.”

Great, Sakura was angry at Sakura.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Sasuke dried his hair after taking a shower and putting his nighttime clothes on. He and his father had an extreme training session that day, on one of the few days his father didn’t have to go to the police station. He did his best to reach his father’s expectations, and succeeded in doing so but did not succeed in exceeding his expectations.

As much as Fugaku didn’t want to admit, Sasuke was not Itachi. Both of his sons were extremely talented, but Sasuke was not as talented as Itachi. Itachi was the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, and Sasuke was his brother following his shadow.

Sasuke fell onto his bed, digging his face into his pillow.

**_You can be better than them._ **

A voice that was most definitely in his mind, but sounded too close and real to be totally in his mind. Sasuke stopped his crisis of worth and looked around his room for anyone. There was no one else in his room except dust bunnies. There were no voices beside the mumbled voices of his parents in the living room, making them too far for his to hear that clear of a voice.

**_You can be better than all of them._ **

Sasuke hid under his blanket and took a pillow as his weapon of choice, having all his tools left in the other room. This part of the story would be the part he would not tell his friends about, had they asked, and persisted to know if anything happened that weekend. It would ruin his reputation entirely and that’s the only thing he really felt proud that he’s kept up through all the years.

**_You don’t need to be in a school full of weaklings. You deserve far better, Uchiha Sasuke._ **

There was no one in the room. Sasuke decided that it was all in his mind and that he was just going crazy, that this was just something he would need to talk to his therapist about. He felt a little bit sleepy, remembering that he had a stressful day and that another was not too far away. Sasuke decided that he should go to sleep, his mind must-ve been playing tricks with him and he just needed to sleep it all off.

He set the pillow in his hands back onto his bad, rested his head onto the pillow, ready for sweet dreams that do not drive him insane.

Nope.

Instead of sweet dreams, Sasuke saw a man in a cage. The man had dark hair that absolutely needed a haircut, a black poncho that would never be in style, and his eyes…

The Mangekyo Sharingan and the Rinnegan. 

Two eyes Sasuke never thought he would live to see the day he met with those eyes. Yet, in this...dream, this monster had them.

That was the right word that explained what he saw, a monster.

**_What did you just call me?_ **

Shit, the monster can hear his thoughts. 

The monster cackled at the sound of Sasuke’s thought twirling in the room.

 **_A monster?! So that’s what you think of us?_ **

Sasuke back away from the man, afraid to get any closer.

“Us?”

The monst-man smiled.

**_I’m Uchiha Sasuke, you’re Uchiha Sasuke, so yes. ‘Us’._ **

This was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't noticed yet, Older Sasuke is not the most...mentally stable of people. He truly got the short end of the stick when getting pride.
> 
> Another thing on Older Sasuke, he doesn't quite have a lot of his memories. He's got as much memory as Sakura at this point, Naruto and Sasuke don't really touch hands for a lot to be transferred. His Sharingan and Rinnegan also show in him because of that one time he and Sakura met. I'm not going to mention much of that much on him.
> 
> It was so enjoyable to write young Sasuke roasting older Sasuke's fashion decisions. 
> 
> Also, yes. I did purposely let Sakura forget a certain detail about her life.


	7. chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This new world has more crackhead energy than the OGs thought there would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. 
> 
> I finished this chapter, like, a month ago but I just keep forgetting to post it.

_Some time...somewhere. The time council is a tricky group to find..._

The council of time sat in their semi-circle meeting room somewhere in time and space. Files among files were piled along each of the 15 spaces for each member, all the contents were scattered along their areas. Most were frustrated, unable to solve a problem that they, captains of time and space, should be able to solve.

"I specifically remember saying a millennia ago that Tokino would be the easiest time spirit to find across the time-space continuum. So far it had shown that her ability to hide in a timeline has vastly improved." The bewildered #6 leaned back in their chair. They were in the body of an old man, but the voice of a young boy with a whistle voice.

"It is obvious that she has grown quite a bit since her last punishment, but yet she still goes against our ruling to stop messing with multiple timeline merges. She even bargained with her clients this time!" #14 was obviously very mad. Although the young girl's body made them look whiney, #14's deep voice was taken very seriously among the council.

"She's grown quite a lot, #14. At least this time she is _aware_ she's in trouble. We had to sacrifice 3 assassins for her to get the message last time." #5 sat back comfortably. They may look like Keanu Reeves from one universe, but the old man's voice is making it very hard to believe their opinion.

"I say we just do a big search of the entirety of space and time. We can close in on Tokino's location as we go on." #3 looked incredibly tired as they looked through the file once again. Leslie Jones in an old woman's body, #3 closed the file before leaning far back into their seat. "Like, seriously. She pretended to those three that she was a time goddess. Tokino is nothing but a powerful time spirit, had she controlled her power she would be with us on the council. But, alas, she uses them for her own pleasure."

"So we're all in agreement that she receives a harsh punishment?" #14 exclaimed to the council. They all shrugged their shoulders in agreement. "Good, now onto our next topic, her latest customers."

The room groaned at the thought of those three.

"You know? I find it very stupid that we sent those idiots to chase after three of the most constant mortals of this multiverse?"

"They were our only option left #2. All our other trained assassins were on a hunt for the rebirth in other universes."

"Then just leave the rebirths alone! We don't need a universe where none of these three exist!"

"But the punishment-"

"We can make a different punishment later, just get some actual important people on this case!"

* * *

He was still stunned by how the man presented himself. Sasuke knew he was not perfect, at least of the personality scale, but this guy, or a version of him he claimed, took his ego and made it look like his height difference with his brother. He was arrogant, egotistical, and just all around definitely not okay. Had this man been given even a touch of chakra the world will be destroyed. 

**_I wouldn't blame you for thinking that. I guess I almost did once until I was defeated in my battle with that fox brat._ **

(Sasuke had to admit, he didn't think his older self would be this ugly. Like, who approved of this style? This style, including the tragedy that is his hair, did not mix well with the ego. But, he had to focus on something else right now…)

Sasuke didn't really know who this "fox brat" was, but it didn't really matter. Whoever this guy was pissed his older self off really bad.

**_I can only wish that he did._ **

Sasuke clenched his fist, "Can you stop doing that? I didn't even try to say anything and you keep responding to my thoughts." Older Sasuke laughed at his younger self. So young and naive of the mess the world around him really is, he did not have the Uchiha rage filled in his blood.

"Hey! I can hear you too, you know! Stop say that! You're starting to sound like Tou-san on a bad day, you can't be that old!" Older Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows at the mention of his father.

**_I am nothing like Tou-san! I am the menace of the Uchiha, he is just the one who inspired me on this path. His and mother's deaths were just what I needed to unlock my true potential! Itachi-niisan I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!!_ **

Sasuke stared at the man who :

  1. Claimed was him from a different timeline
  2. Has some serious ego issues
  3. Is 100% a complete lunatic
  4. Needed the fashion police...badly



**_Looks like you don't quite understand the situation._ **

Young Sasuke frowned at older Sasuke, that was when he felt a change in his balance. The empty echo of the endless abyss turned into a scenery full of trees on the verge of crashing, pouring rain, thunder, and most of all he was now on a boat and older Sasuke was out of his cage. Despite the pouring rain, the two of them remained dry, reminding young Sasuke that this was all in his mind.

Sasuke was still standing, causing the boat to tip a little over, "What the hell?"

Older Sasuke calmly sat down and smiled, it was far more pleasant to look at that all his previous smiles.

**_That's a little better._ **

Young Sasuke sat down as well, trying his best to stay as far away from the man as possible while also not falling off the boat. 

**_There is no need. The cage remains invisible around me so I cannot touch you. If you fall off, you will just come back here automatically._ **

Young Sasuke calmed himself. Seeming that his older self began to be calmer, but still definitely still creepy as hell, Sasuke felt as if it was safer to let his guard down a bit.

**_Now, let's discuss some issues. Not because I want to, but because the dobe will get more annoying than he already is if I don't._ **

Young Sasuke groaned as he leaned back, "Oh come on! Naruto is involved with this too?"

**_Unfortunately. It's like he's the main hero of our adventure. It should obviously be me._ **

"As much as I would hate for the dobe's ego to get any higher, I think getting you as the main character wouldn't really be that entertaining."

**_What?!_ **

"Like, you kinda already have a pretty big ego already and it seems like you've grown up being more of a 'center of attention' kind of guy, so I don't really think it would be a good idea to give that to you. Plus, at least Naruto would be an interesting protagonist." Young Sasuke looked upon the river to avoid eye contact with his older self, knowing the next thing he would say would offend this guy. Older Sasuke, as expected started growling at the young boy. "You and your _ponchos_ and _mop hair,_ on the other hand, make it look like your emotions share a single brain cell."

**_You?!-_ **

Older Sasuke could not believe the _sass_ he was getting from his younger self. He was not aware that him growing up happy would make such an effect on his personality, but, oh boy, it did. This kid never understood his struggles with living on his own, being the only family he had, and having a plan of vengeance against his brother. He never experienced the emotional turmoil Sasuke had been through at a young age. 

Younger Sasuke slides his finger on the edges of the boat, trying his best to not make total eye contact with older Sasuke, but still glancing over to see how he reacted.

**_Do you talk to your family like this?!_ **

He shrugged, "Not really. I honestly don't actually talk to anyone like that, but this is still my mind. I can probably plan out a really good comeback, but it's super out of character for how I act around others to really say it. In my mind, which you have had the pleasure of invading, I can say whatever the hell I want. Now can we skip to you talking about the past life and how it's different from mine."

Older Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows.

**_How the hell did you know that?_ **

Younger Sasuke sensed that his older counterpart had finally calmed down for a minute and looked back at him, "Well, if you have noticed, I'm not dumb. _We_ are literally the top of our class. I figured it out pretty quickly"

Older Sasuke then got hit with the memory of that happening, oh the good ol' days.

**_I-I knew that!_ **

Younger Sasuke nodded, not believing him at all. "Sure. Second, I'm pretty sure that you mentioned before, but _both_ of our thoughts bounce off the walls. The rain might make it hard, but while you were sitting there being angry, I tried a little to hear some thoughts and hears some of yours. Your life is very different from mine, connecting from the fact that you said you were me and that, it can only be concluded that you are me from a different timeline." Sasuke's brain made another connection. "Which then confirms the theory that there are multiple timelines and universes with different starts and outcomes."

**_You are getting ahead of yourself._ **

Sasuke sighed and laid back, "Go ahead, tell your story."

**_It all started after Itachi killed the clan._ **

"Okay, after that. You've mentioned that in your thoughts way too many times, either back it up or move a little forward."

**_This is my story brat, I can tell it how I want to._ **

**_The day after Itachi killed the clan, I went to school. Instead of paying attention to Iruka-sensei, I made a plan. I will get my reven-_ **

"HOLD UP!" Older Sasuke flared up at another interruption, standing up and tipping the boat slightly to his side.

**_WHAT IS IT NOW?_ **

"You went to _school._ After Nii-san _killed the clan_ ." Younger Sasuke was _really_ trying to understand this guy, he really was. Maybe that massacre did a little more than drive this guy insane. 

**_LOOK, IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME AND THE RULES WERE DIFFERENT OKAY! And if it helps, I had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days until the blood was cleaned from the floors._ **

"But you didn't get, like, therapy or-"

**_MY MENTAL STABILITY DURING THAT TIME IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN!_ **

"Fine, fine. I'll keep my mouth shut through the rest of this. Just hurry up because I have to wake up for school in like an hour." Older Sasuke, still cooling off from his temper tantrum, sat back down to collect himself. He took a deep breath in and out before looking back at his younger self.

**_I had a plan for revenge. I was going to kill Itachi, just like he told me to._ **

' _Doesn't really seem like this guy might have gotten the full message, nii-san wouldn't really say shit like that but I'll let it slide.'_

* * *

Young Sakura continued to sit there. Not facing her older self, not feeling understood anymore. 

The initial shock of the entire situation brought upon her was what overcame her at first. In just a couple hours her entire world was flipped on its side, yet here she was in the middle of a problem she doesn't understand. Everything seemed so overwhelming. The differences in how she could've lived, how much more developed the world she loved in now was. It all seemed like too much for her, she was only 12 after all.

The shock had faded away as she finally got a chance to process _her own reality_. Haruno Sakura was not a ninja, she was the daughter of two middle-class merchants who lived a civilian life. Her parents were killed in a, currently, because she doesn't know any current information since the news is what got her here in the first place, unexplained incident. Sakura didn't have the funds to pay her medical bills after this, she couldn't afford all the assets of her current home, no matter how many flower shop shifts she took. 

Thankfully funeral costs were the least of their problems, as in a world as dangerous as the shinobi world, death is inevitable. The central government would pay for the burial.

**You're pretty smart. You know that?**

The breaking of the silence brought her out of her thoughts.

"Uh-um-yeah. I'm top of my class, but the material seems too easy so I like to do my own research."

**So, what have you been studying recently?**

"Well-um-, recently I've been studying some medical books, but most of them have a lot of shinobi school terms. Sometimes I'll ask Ino if she knows any and she'll explain to me some of the things she knows, but sometimes she doesn't really know the term." 

**Why would Ino know those terms?**

Older Sakura tilted her head, confused about why her friend, who had shown no interest in medical ninjutsu, prior to shortly before the 4th shinobi war, would know any medical terms. The Ino she knew had gossip on everyone and was unafraid to share it with the world, even if she wasn't paying much attention in class. 

"Well, she qualified to be part of the school's medical class where they teach medical ninjutsu to soon to be genin put on their teams. Due to tradition, she has already been put on the team with Shikamaru and Choji so she got a little bit of a head start." 

**So the Academy teaches medical basics now.**

Young Sakura cocked an eyebrow, "Yeah, they have been for almost two decades. When Lord 4th came into office, he established the section of the Academy as one of his first actions in office."

…

…

…

"Wait, so your time _didn't_ have those classes?"

**No. I don't think it had ever been established for genin. Those at a chunin level tend to learn medical basics to move onto jonin.**

"But who aids the teams when someone is injured on a mission? Doesn't each team have a team medic?"

**Not in my time. Genin teams didn't really go on many missions that would cause any injury...except this one time-oh-and that other time-**

"HOW MANY TIME HAVE YOU ALMOST DIED?!"

**WE THOUGHT WE WERE TAKING A DRUNK GUY HOME NOT GETTING ATTACKED BY ASSASSINS!**

"HOW ARE YOU STILL MENTALLY OKAY?"

**I'm really not to be honest but something deep inside is telling to just keep going.**

"Woman, is that your motto in life? Because if it is, I am deeply concerned and inspired at the same time." Younger Sakura looked like she was about to have a mini-existential crisis.

Older Sakura smiled and shot finger guns at her younger self.

**That's the intention. You learn so fast, which means you are probably in for one hell of a ride once I get all my other memories.**

Younger Sakura knew that she had to stop the concerning topic there and address several more elephants in the room because this room was getting very crowded.

"Okay, so since you're getting your memories back, what are you going to do with them?" Older Sakura looked at her like her younger self asked a dumb question.

**Uh, fix all the problems that made my world suck, duh.**

"Yeah, but from what I've been hearing, your world is far more war driven than ours. We have been in constant peace for decades, so the chances that your memories, or anyone else's, are going to do much change is pretty slim for the time being."

Older Sakura slumped down into her cage.

**Shit. We didn't think that far into the plan.**

"Furthermore, most of your memories were about you and being a shinobi. Problem is, I AM NOT IN THE SHINOBI ACADEMY. Adding to the fact that most enroll for the first time as a very young child, I have far missed my chance."

**We didn't think of that possibility either.**

"EVEN IF I COULD'VE GONE, which I think is still pretty slim, I think I've mentioned before that my job doesn't pay as much as you think, scholarships are reserved for special cases, and MY PARENTS ARE DEAD!"

**I GET IT! I GET IT! My team didn't plan for this possibility of this version of the world and therefore I have no clue what we as one Sakura should do next. I'm sorry I'm being-**

She cut herself off before she could finish the sentence.

**Never mind-let-let's just go back to where we started.**

"You were going to say useless, weren't you?" Older Sakura sighed as she looked up in shame.

**I'm that predictable, aren't I?**

"I don't know, just something inside me felt like that's been heard several times." She smiled softly at her older self. 

"So let's talk about that."

* * *

"How stupid are you? How stupid is everyone?"

Older Naruto was not quite done with telling his entire life story. He was only halfway done when his younger self started having a small crisis of life went so horribly wrong. With how long this had been going on, older Naruto talking and younger Naruto interrupting with his confusion about everything, it didn't take long for one of them to figure out that Kushina would be yelling,10 minutes after their alarm clock, in an hour.

In younger Naruto's defense, everyone was stupid. Mostly because he was the one stupid enough to forget about his mother's wake up call.

_"You're not wrong to think that, but also ouch. You kinda hurt my feelings."_

Young Naruto just rolled his eyes, "So what? According to this part of your life story, you've been through way worse than a 12-year-old calling you stupid." He narrowed his eyes at his older self as he looked at the surrounding memories, most were happier than the ones being told. "Are you perhaps...softening up?"

Older Naruto held up a finger in defense, a weak one but whatever, " _No way! I'm still the same idiot I've always been!"_

"Well, that proves how easily I tricked you into dissing yourself." Younger Naruto looked smugly, showing he had a chance to show his dominance. 

His older counterpart was not very impressed and was rather annoyed with how little his younger self was to him at that age. From what he had been observing, several of his friends were different in little ways in this new timeline. From Sakura being the complete 180 version of the girl he remembered to Ino being a little less in Sasuke's face all the time, everyone seemed to have changed except for this wild child in front of him.

The only real change would probably be the fact that he wasn't dead last this time around. Thank Kami that Kushina supervises his studies.

Wait. 

Would that mean that he and Sasuke wouldn't be on the same team this time around? 

And since Sakura isn't training in the shinobi Arts, what team was he going to get?

He didn't think this through.

They didn't think this through.

As older Naruto was having a slight realization crisis, younger Naruto was getting a bit bored to the silence. He snapped his fingering in his older self's face, "Oi, old man, I'm bored."

He furrowed his eyebrows, _"Look, I'm not even that old!"_

Younger Naruto still did not change his expression and looked rather unimpressed, "Well, according to that memory right there, you're a grandfather."

_"Yeah, but my grandson is not even a month old!"_

The child shrugged his shoulders, "So? You're still old enough to have adult children, meaning that you are, in fact, old. At least, how I see it"

Adult, or elderly as some will suggest, Naruto just decided to stop arguing there. There was really no reason to argue with a child, especially if the child was him. If the conversation went on for any longer, they wouldn't get anywhere and would be late for school.

Again.

Even if things were different in this timeline, Naruto would always have a tendency to be late for anything. 

"So like, are we going to do anything? Does this go on forever or is all this going to, like, poof?"

Finally, a reasonable question from the most unreasonable child Naruto had ever met. Who knew that it would have been himself all along?

" _Actually, you will retain most of the memories, but now that you met me, we will keep in contact without you being asleep. Now that we have a face to face encounter, I can send messages from inside your head."_

"Like what messages?" 

_"I don't know? Information about people, advice on how to achieve things, valuable secre-"_

"Answers to Iruka-sensei's test?"

Older Naruto sighed and slumped into his chair, " _Kid, I'm not saying this to be mean, but if you really think I'm going to give you the answers, you're dumb. Also, why would I give you answers? You're, what, the 3rd smartest kid in class?_ "

Younger Naruto groaned in annoyance, "Yeah, but that's because I'm forced to work! Sasuke and Hinata-chan are just naturally good because they come from big clans, Kaa-chan is always staring over my shoulder when I study."

_"That's supposed to be a good thing! It makes you encouraged to focus on remembering, you'll learn that just memorizing is a very useful skill."_

"Says the guy who failed the genin test the first time."

_"Says the guy who isn't allowed to take the genin test due to behavior issues."_

Young Naruto narrowed his eyes, preparing to fire back at his older self before the room started to light up and the screaming of his mother became quite apparent. He grumbled as Older Naruto's smirk could still be seen through the fading dream, "You win this time, old man, but tomorrow night you're gonna wish you didn't complain about me!"

Like that, Naruto opened his eyes to see his bedroom ceiling. The morning light shines in his eyes, he was tempted to return to sleep as he felt like he didn't really get much rest. The bed just felt so comfortable, the blanket was just so warm, and it just felt like he would fall right back to-

"NARUTO!"

Oh yeah, he had school today.

* * *

_Mission Day 8: Rocky Start_

_The chakra signatures, three to be exact, are like none I've ever felt before. Unlike many, the signature just feels different, it almost doesn't seem human but not animal-like either. Whatever is leaving them, I was unsure about whether they are friend or foe._

_Until the signatures followed up to a village._

_The village was a small one. It relied on trade with Kusagakure, hence why many on the civilian members of the village are native to Kusa. When I arrived at the village it was nearly destroyed to smithereens, it was only out of luck that none of the villagers died or suffered major injuries._

_I could find the mysterious signatures all over the village. According to villagers, the destruction was caused by three strange men who held no village title but were incredibly skilled. The men forced everyone out of their homes and asked for their family names. Because, apparently, no one in the village was whom they were looking for, their homes were completely destroyed in mere seconds._

_I have decided to stay for a short while to help the village and Kusa. By the morning I will send a letter to Minato letting him know that help is needed on this side of the country._

_Unfortunately, no hot springs this week. Maybe next week, somewhere else._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I getting a little bored with this? yeah.
> 
> Is it apparent? Yeah.


End file.
